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Form  No.  471 


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in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/africanmethodismOOgain 


I  by  H.&C  Koevoe 


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Hfrican  Jtethodism  in  the  South 


Twenty-Five  Years  of  Freedom. 


By  Rt.  Rev.  WESLEY  J.  GAINES,  D.  D., 
Sixteenth  Bishop  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


With  an  Introduction  by 


Prof.  W.  S.  SCARBOROUGH.  A.  M.,  LL.  D. 


Atlanta,  Georgia: 
Franklin  Publishing  House. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1890,  by 

Rt.  Rev.  WESLEY  J.  GAINES,  D.  D., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


NO 


TO 

MY  FAITHFUL  WIFE  AND  DAUGHTER 

AND   TO  THE 

CONFERENCE  OF  THE  SIXTH  EPISCOPAL  DISTRICT 

THIS   BOOK    IS   AFFECTIONATELY   DEDICATED 


»v 


PREFACE. 


In  undertaking  this  work  I  have  had  in  mind  to 
present  to  my  readers  and  to  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  a 
brief  but  comprehensive  survey  of  the  work  of  our 
church  in  the  South,  especially  in  the  State  of  Geor- 
gia ;  so  that  in  passing  over  the  pages  if  there  be 
found  anything  omitted  which  would  seem  necessary 
to  make  the  history  of  our  church  work  in  the  South- 
ern States  complete,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
such  a  comprehensive  history  has  not  been  my  de- 
sign. Such  would  call  for  more  space  than  this  small 
volume  can  comprise,  and  there  are  historians  who 
will  undertake  the  task  of  setting  forth  the  work  in 
other  individual  States. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  touch  upon  the  adjoining 
States  to  Georgia  only  so  far  as  seemed  necessary  to 
a  proper  understanding  of  the  spread  of  the  work,  and 
when  the  relationship  is  so  close  as  to  make  one  a 
necessary  complement  of  the  other,  and  so  far  as  my 
own  personal  experience  in  those  States  would  war- 
rant my  adding  them  to  my  list. 

The  early  years  of  work  in  every  section  through- 
out the  United  States  is  only  a  repetition  of  the  early 
years  of  the  existence  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  from 
its  inception  in  1687  to  its  birth  in  18 16  and  through 
the  years  of  its  infancj'      It  is  a  record  whose  data 


are  difficult  to  find.  It  has  been  most  difficult  in  the 
South  because  when  the  church  began,  before  the 
fortunes  of  war  were  finally  settled,  there  were  no  set 
plans,  no  systematic  work  and  the  changing  condi- 
tions surrounding  all  things  affected  it  as  well. 

We  know  this  era  to  have  been  one  prolific  in 
events,  yet  a  conscientious  desire  for  accuracy  leads 
us  to  omit  much  data  that  may  have  been  due  to  the 
passions  and  prejudices  of  men,  and,  as  a  minister  of 
peace,  place  that  before  the  world  which  we  find  to 
be  irrefutable  facts. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  to  make  this  book  one  of  ab- 
stract history.  I  have  moved  among  these  Southern 
scenes  from  birth,  and  with  the  birth  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  in  the  South,  I  have  ever  since  been  identi- 
fied with  its  Georgia  history.  My  familiarty,  with  the 
Conferences  of  this  State  and  their  results  is  that 
which  comes  from  being  present  every  session  from 
that  of  the  first  Conference  held  in  Charleston  in 
1865  ;  and  my  knowledge  of  how  much  the  growth  of 
our  work  can  be  explained  only  by  the  details,  has 
led  me  to  give  place  to  those  of  importance  in  each 
record  of  the  proceedings  of  these  bodies. 

It  has  been  my  purpose  to  make  mention  of  all 
growth  as  far  as  I  could  find  accurate  data  for  it,  and 
to  bring  before  my  readers  the  men  whose  entrance 
into  the  church  work  has  caused  this  growth. 

In  my  preparation  I  have  to  acknowledge  my  obli- 
gations to  numerous  friends  whose  kindly  help  in 
gathering  scattered  material  has  greatly  aided  me.  I 
am  especially  indebted  to  Dr.  T.  G.  Steward's  early 
history  of  the  work  as  found  in  the  Georgia  Confer- 
ence Minutes  and  in  his  Centennial  address ;  also  to 


PREFACE.  VII 

Bishop  B.  W.  Arnet  for  statistics  kindly  furnished, 
and  to  the  valuable  Centennial  Budget  of  the  A.  M. 
E.  Church,  compiled  by  the  same. 

If  my  little  volume  shall  be  an  incentive  to  others 
likewise  to  add  to  the  literature  and  future  history  of 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  it  will  have  fulfilled  largely  its 
"reason  for  being,"  while  at  the  same  time  it  enables 
me  to  pay  a  tribute  to  the  Church  of  Our  Fathers,  to 
its  work  in  my  native  State  and  to  the  negro  race,  to 
all  of  which  I  am  attached  by  the  ties  of  fifty  years. 

W.  J.  G. 


INTRODUCTION 


The  fact  that  the  color  question  is  the  question  of 
the  day,  attracting  more  or  less  attention  throughout 
our  entire  country — North,  East,  West  and  South — 
makes  everything  pertaining  to  the  negro — his  past,, 
his  present,  his  future,  his  educational,  his  moral,  his 
financial  status — all  the  more  important  In  fact,  the- 
negro  is  at  present  the  center  of  attraction.  All  eyes 
are  turned  toward  him  and  he  is  served  up  in  short: 
story  and  in  long,  in  history  and  in  fiction,  in  prose 
and  in  j  oetry,  as  it  may  suit  the  fancy  of  men. 

Scientists,  theologians,  men  of  letters  and  even  the 
politicians,  are  all  trying  to  solve  what  they  call  the 
"Negro  Problem" — Whither  is  the  negio  drifting? 
What  will  eventually  become  of  him  f  Will  he  in  time 
lose  his  identity  in  the  heterogeneity  of  the  American 
people?  or  will  he  maintain  his  racial  characteristics 
despite  circumstances  ?  or  finally  will  he,  like  the  bar- 
barian hordes  of  the  orient,  imbibe  a  migratory  spirit 
and  conclude  to  leave  these  shores  for  a  more  con- 
genial clime  ?  These  are  the  questions  that  arise 
daily  by  "germs  and  by  fractions "  in  every  paper 
that  one  takes  up.  Some  affirm  one  thing,  some 
another.  Suffice  it  to  say,  however,  despite  tjie  dis- 
cussions, despite  the  difference  of  opinion,  the  negro 
intends  to  hold  his  own.  He  has  a  future,  and  that, 
too,  in  America.     If  not,  what  mean  these  twenty- 


"X  INTRODUCTION. 

five  years  of  progress  in  all  lines  of  industy — progress 
more  marked  than  that  of  any  other  people  in  the 
same  length  of  time  and  under  the  same  circum- 
stances ?  What  means  our  great  A.  M.  E.  Church, 
with  its  hundreds  of  thousands  of  communicants  and 
its  thousands  of  preachers  and  teachers,  its  bishops 
and  general  officers  ?  Surely  the  history  and  growth 
•  of  African  Methodism  in  these  United  States  are  an 
evidence  not  only  of  progress,  but  of  permanence  as 
well.  From  a  small  seed — infinitesimally  small  as  it 
were — has  grown  a  magnificent  tree,  as  wonderful  as 
it  is  magnificent.  In  every  State  and  Territory, 
wherever  the  negro  is  found,  African  Methodism  is 
known. 

Its  greatest  field  is  in  the  South.  It  is  here  that 
we  find  the  numbers  both  as  to  churches  and  as  to 
membership — due,  of  course,  to  the  fact  that  the 
colored  people  are  found  there  in  larger  majorities 
than  elsewhere. 

The  present  volume,  which  discusses  African  Meth- 
odism in  Georgia  and  Alabama,  is  another  welcome 
addition  to  the  Church  literature — emanating  as  it 
does  from  the  pen  of  one  who  grew  up  as  it  were  in 
the  Church,  and  who  is  thoroughly  competent  to  state 
the  facts  as  he  sees  and  knows  them.  Our  distin- 
guished friend,  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines,  stood 
by  the  cradle  of  African  Methodism  in  its  incipient 
stages  in  the  State  of  Georgia — assisted  in  nursing  it 
until  it  became  able  to  stand  alone,  and  thereafter  a 
power  throughout  our  Southern  clime — whose  influ- 
ence is  felt  far  and  wide.  No  man  of  my  acquaint- 
ance has  done  more  for  the  propagation  of  the  Church 
of  his  choice  than  Bishop  Gaines.     Go  where  you  will, 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

in  Georgia  especially,  search  the  records  of  the  Afri- 
can M.  E.  Churches,  examine  the  scrolls,  and  the 
name  of  Dr.  W.  J.  Gaines  will  be  found  to  stand  out 
in  bold  relief,  not  only  as  a  builder  of  churches,  but 
as  a  wise  and  faithful  shepherd ;  as  one  who  always 
reposed  an  unfaltering  trust  in  God,  however  dark 
the  hour,  and,  therefore,  as  a  pre-eminently  successful 
pastor  and  teacher.  Such,  then,  is  the  writer  of  this 
volume.  Certainly  there  could  not  be  found  one  who 
is  more  fitted  to  portray  the  growth  of  African  Meth- 
odism in  the  South  than  he  whose  name  this  volume 
bears.  Born  and  reared  in  that  section,  a  close  ob- 
server of  the  many  vicissitudes — civil,  political  and 
ecclesiastical — through  which  the  South  has  passed 
during  these  twenty-five  years,  a  friend  of  reforms,  a 
vigorous  advocate  of  the  cause  of  temperance,  an  un- 
swerving defender  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  his 
race — conservative  rather  than  radical — with  a  soul 
smitten  with  the  love  of  virtue,  with  a  ruling  passion 
for  the  true,  the  noble,  the  good  and  the  beautiful  in 
all  the  walks  of  life — the  Rt.  Rev.  Wesley  J.  Gaines 
may  justly  claim  the  right  to  be  an  authority  on  the 
subjects  discussed  in  this  treatise.  We  hail  it  with 
joy,  and  trust  that  it  may  be  instrumental  in  awaken- 
ing a  deeper  interest  in  the  spread  of  African  Meth- 
odism in  this  great  country  of  ours,  and  that  those 
into  whose  hands  it  may  fall  may  be  inspired  to  go 
forth  as  doers  of  the  Word  and  not  simply  hearers. 
W.  S.  Scarborough, 

Wilberforce  University. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY   CHAPTER. 

Brief  Reference  to  Richard  Allen  ;  The  Beginning  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church  ;  It's  Spread  East,  West,  Southwest ;  Up 
to  the  Rebellion. 

CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGIN   OF  THE   A.    M.    E.   CHURCH  IX  THE   SOUTH. 

The  Southern  Methodist  at  the  Time  of  the  Rebellion  ;  The 
War  ;  The  Missionaries  Sent  to  South  Carolina  ;  The  First 
Church  Organized  in  Georgia  ;  The  First  Session  of  the 
South  Carolina  Conference  ;  Georgia  Mission  Work  ;  South 
Carolina  Conference  Work. 

CHAPTER  III. 

FIRST  GEORGIA  CONFERENCE. 

Extension  of  Work  ;   Georgia'and  Florida  as  Separate  Con- 
ferences— Stations  and  Circuits  :    First  Session  of  Georgia 
Conference  ;     Its  Members  and  Work  ;    Second  Session 
March  17,  1868 ;   Work  of  the  General  Conference  of  186 
Affecting  Southern  States  ;    Resolutions  upon  Education 

CHAPTER  IV. 

GEORGIA  IN   1868-1871. 

The  First  Session  of  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference  as  an 
Independent  Conference,  Feb.  6,  1869  ;  First  Report  upon 
the  Rise  of  African  Methodism  in  Georgia  ;  Bishop  Brown 
Presiding ;  Women's  Work ;  Rev.  Andrew  Brown's 
Description. 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GEORGIA  1871-1872. 


Preachers  Admitted  ;  Ordination  Sermon  of  Deacons  ;  Rev, 
A.  L.  Standford  ;  A  Beneficent  Gift ;  Four  Deaths  ;  Con- 
ference School ;  Two  Meagre  Reports ;  An  Important 
Change  ;  Elders  Ordained  in  1871 ;  An  Interesting  Discus- 
sion ;  Sabbath  School  Banner  ;  A  District  Book  Steward  ; 
A  Division  of  Conference  Monies ;  Advice  to  Ministers  ; 
Organization  of  the  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  ; 
In  Savannah  for  the  Second  Time ;  Pertinent  Remarks  ; 
Some  Visitors. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCE  YEAR. 

Admissions  in  1872  ;  Sound  Counsel;  The  Missionary  Agency; 
Book  Concern  Report;  Substantial  Aid ;  Steps  toward  a 
School ;  Deacons  and  Elders  ;  An  Unfortunate  Slip  ; 
Minority  Reports  Adopted  ;  D Laths  of  the  Year  ;  Pay  for 
the  Secretary  ;  General  Conference  Delegates  ;  Changes 
Made;  Conference  Sermons  Preserved;  Two  Meetings; 
Appreciation  of  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown's  Work  ;  Americus  and 
Savannah  ;  Sunday  School ;  Sermons  Appointed  for  Next 
Year  ;  Elder  Turner's  Request ;  Interesting  Reports ;  Fra- 
ternal Feeling. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

GEORGIA,   1873. 

At  Macon  Georgia  ;  A  New  Bishop  ;  Additions  and  Losses  ; 
Episcopal  Robes  ;  Thirty-seven  Preachers ;  Bishop  Paul 
Quinn ;  First  Death  in  Bishopric  Since  1848 ;  Preachers 
called  by  Death  ;  Ordination  of  Elders  and  Deacons  ;  Visi- 
tors to  Conference  ;  Exodus  to  Arkansas  ;  Sold  for  Pas- 
sage Money  ;  Report  upon  Division  of  Conference  ;  An 
Unwieldy  Body  ;  Severe  Tax  upon  Church  ;  Arguments 
for  Division  ;  A  Committee  Appointed  ;  Majority  and  Mi- 
nority Reports  ;  Division  Recommended ;  Boundaries  Indi- 
cated ;  Regret  and  Gladness ;  Changes  in  Districts,  Cir- 
cuits, etc. 


CONTENTS.  XV" 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   NEW  WORK. 

Opening  of  1874  ;  The  North  Georgia  Conference  and  Georgia 
Conference  ;  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward's  Remarks  ;  An  Objec- 
tion ;  Committee  upon  Boundaries  ;  Sent  Before  the  Com- 
mittee ;  Bishop  S.  H.  Ho]sey  of  the  C.  M.  E.  Church  ;. 
Dr.  H.  M.  Turner's  Response ;  The  State  of  Education  • 
A  Need  in  the  Ministry;  An  Educational  Convention; 
Trustees  Appointed  ;  The  South  Georgia  Annual  Confer- 
ence ;  Transfers  ;  Intention  to  Appeal ;  An  Able  Sermon  ; 
Class  Admitted  on  Trial ;  A  Cordial  Welcome ;  Respect 
for  African  Methodism ;  A  Donation  ;  End  of  First  De- 
cade ;  North  Georgia  Conference,  at  Athens  ;  A  Change  of 
Date  ;  Admissions,  Deacons,  Elders  and  Transfers  ;  Death 
of  Thomas  K.  Brown— The  Georgia  Conference,  at  Albany  ; 
Small  Gifts  ;  Memorial  Services  ;  A  Large  Class  Admitted  ; , 
An  Awakening  ;  A  Vigorous  Report ;  A  Quotation  ;  Invi- 
tations ;  Cartersville,  Georgia ;  Sermons ;  Delegate  to. 
General  Conference. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

A  SKETCH  OF   THREE  YEARS. 

Again  in  Savannah  ;  General  Conference  Delegates  from  the- 
Georgia  Conference  ;  Recognition  of  Woman's  Work  ;  A 
Standard  Number ;  A  Petition  to  the  Governor  ;  Rev>" 
Tunis  G. Campbell's  Case  ;  An  Excellent  School ;  Finances 
An  Invitation  to  Georgia  ;  General  Conference  in  Atl  anta 
1876  ;  Possibilities  Appreciated  ;  Changes  in  the  Church  ; 
A  New  Bishop  for  the  South  ;  North  Georgia  Conference, 
at  Griffin  ;  A  Class  of  Twenty -three  ;  Deaths  and  Trans- 
fers ;  Georgia  Conference  at  Bainbridge  ;  Bishop  Campbell 
and  the  Visitors ;  Japheth,  "  Caught  in  America ;"  Plea 
for  Africa  ;  Eatonton,  Dec.  5  ;  Waste  of  Time  ;  Preachers 
Admitted  ;  Georgia  Conference,  Columbus,  1878  ;  Many 
Visitors;  Reminiscences;  North  Georgia  Delegates; 
Deaths  ;  Preachers  Admitted  ;  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne's  Letter:. 
Our  Haytian  Work  ;  Satisfactory  Appointments  ;  Dollar- 
Money. 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

MADISON,   CUTHBERT  AND   MACON. 

North  Georgia  Conference  at  Madison,  1879 ;  A  New  Law  ; 
Arrangements  for  a  Fund  ;  Preparations  for  General  Con- 
ference ;  The  State  Blind  Asylum;  A  Petition  and  Its 
Result ;  Deacons  Ordained  ;  G  ^orgia  Conference  at  Cuth- 
bert ;  An  Annual  Sermon  by  a  Pioneer  ;  A  Business  Move- 
ment ;  Preachers  Admitted ;  Elders  and  Deacons ;  The 
Death  List;  A  Cxution;  Hearty  Greetings;  Our  Repre- 
sentative to  London ;  Assembly  of  the  "  One  Hundred  "  ; 
A  Private  Matter ;  A  Lesson  on  Hospitality ;  Electoral 
College  ;  Pertinent  Admonition ;  Steps  for  Another  Con- 
ference ;  Changes  in  Georgia  Conference  Work ;  Some 
Leaving  Appointments. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

ONE   YEAR'S  WORK. 

North  Georgia  Annual  Conference  in  Macon,  1880  ;  Sabbath 
Appointments ;  Bishop  Campbell's  Address ;  Many  Vis- 
itors ;  An  Able  Address  ;  Ordination  Services ;  General 
Conference  Delegates  ;  Insttuction  to  General  Conference 
Delegates;  Close  of  Bishop  Campbell's  Work ;  Member- 
ship ;  The  Demands  of  History ;  A  Sketch  of  a  Visit  to 
London ;  A  Leaven  in  the  South ;  Americus,  Georgia, 
1880  ;  Committee  Upon  a  New  Conference  ;  Bishop  J.  M. 
Brown's  Illness  ;  The  Greatest  Blessing  ;  Preachers  ;  Dea- 
cons ;  Elders;  Committees' Reports  ;  "  Ou  the  Exodus  ; " 
Historical  Facts  ;  Wholesome  Advice  ;  A  Marked  Increase  ; 
The  Wesley  Memorial  Church  ;  Unity  in  Spirit ;  Presiding 
Elders  ;  Statistics  of  Georgia  Conference  ;  A  Comparison  ; 
Four  Years'  Growth  ;  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  D.  D. ;  Three 
New  Bishops. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

BISHOP  DICKERSON'S  FIRST   WORK. 

Ill  Atlanta,  1881  ;  Systematic  Work ;  Resolutions  and 
Pledges ;  Our  Educational  Work  ;  Many  Leading  Ideas  ; 
The  First  Appropriation ;    Good  News ;   Admissions   and 


CONTENTS.  XVII 

Ordinations ;  Remarkable  Sermons  ;  Distinguished  Visi- 
tors ;  Presiding  Elders'  Reports ;  Georgia  Conference  in 
Savannah  ;  A  Minister's  Text ;  Words  of  Encouragement ; 
An  Introduction  ;  Encouraging  Reports ;  The  Annual 
Sermon ;  Oases  in  the  Desert  ;  Honorable  Tributes  ;  A 
Joint  Committee  ;  Its  Report ;  A  College  Site  Selected  ; 
Education  at  Home ;  The  Canonical  Scriptures  ;  Con- 
sternation in  the  Ranks  ;  Occasion  for  Thanks ;  A  New 
Department. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

A  YEAR  OF  INTEREST. 

A  Grand  Missionary  Meeting ;  Our  Missionary  Work;  Africa; 
Hayti  and  Indian  Territoy ;  Letters  for  Bishop  Turner ; 
Dr.  B.  H.  Arnett's  Sermon  ;  The  Need  of  The  Church  ; 
Quoting  Sermons ;  An  Amusing  Anecdote  ;  Upon  Their 
Own  Merits;  "Jesus  is  in  the  Dollar:"  Our  Ritualistic 
Service ;  A  Beautiful  Ceremony ;  State  Sunday-School 
Convention ;  A  Higher  Standard ;  Home  Missions  ;  A 
Mighty  Necessity ;  Importance  of  The  Sunday-School ; 
The  Children  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Fold  ;  A  New  Feature  ;  The 
Districts  of  the  Conference  ;  Improvement  and  Growth ; 
Episcopal  Residences  ;  Personal  Sacrifice  ;  A  Loss ;  A 
Memorable  Year. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

NORTH   GEORGIA   CONFERENCE,   AUGUSTA,   GEORGIA. 

Visitors  ;  Echoes  from  the  Ecumenical  Council  ;  Missionary 
Meeting  ;  Education  in  the  Early  Days ;  Elder  S.  H.  Rob- 
ertson's Pass  ;  Negro  Authors  ;  No  Race  in  Literature  ;  A 
Truly  Great  Man  ;  Features  of  this  Annual  Conference  ; 
A  Disgrace  to  American  Civilization ;  A  Large  Class  ; 
Full  Reports  ;  Georgia  Conference  in  Thomasville  ;  The 
Key  Note  of  Work  ;  Ordinations  ;  The  Wesley  Memorial 
Volume  ;  An  Unsuccessful  Outrage  ;  Nine  Presiding  Elder 
Districts ;   The  New  Conference. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   SECOND   DIVISION. 

Tenth  Session  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  ;  The  Sev- 
enteenth of  the  Mother  Conference  ;    The  Literary  Tone  ; 


XVIII  CONTENTS. 

Ordinations  in  the  Two  Conferences  ;  Good  Work  ;  Vari- 
ous Districts  ;  Transfers ;  A  Transition  Stage  ;  The  New 
Conference  ;  First  Session,  January  31,  1883  ;  Work  of  the 
Session  ;  Its  Second  Session  ;  Change  of  Date  ;  Some 
Transfers  ;  Close  of  Seventh  Quadrennium  ;  Bishop  Dick- 
erson's  Four  Years ;  First  Annual  Conference  in  1884 ; 
Prophetic  Utterance  ;  A  Discussion;  A  Death  of  a  Pioneer; 
Delegates  to  General  Conference  ;  An  Appeal ;  A  Success- 
ful Year  ;  The  Georgia  Conference  at  Valdosta  ;  Present 
to  Bishop  Dickerson  ;  An  Election  ;  Failure  to  Make  Ex- 
ports. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

BEGINNING  A    NEW  QUADRENNIUM. 

One  Hundred  Years  Before  ;  Some  Figures  ;  Bishop  James 
A.  Shorter  Assigned  to  the  South;  Dollar  Money  Law 
Amended  ;  Endowment  Day  ;  Bishop  Shorter  in  Georgia  ; 
Routine  Business ;  In  the  Macon  Conference ;  North 
Georgia  Conference  at  Athens ;  A  Missionary  Bishop  ; 
The  Annual  Sermon  ;  Fraternal  Greetings  ;  Admissions 
and  Withdrawals  ;  Elders  and  Deacons  ;  Bishop  Dicker- 
son's  Illness  and  Death  ;  Father  Peter  McLain  ;  Georgia 
Annual  Conference  of  1885  ;  Memorial  Services  ;  Macon 
Conference  Boundary  ;  Its  Fourth  session ;  A  Request 
from  the  Financial  Board  ;  Sunday  Services  ;  A  Sugges- 
tion Followed  ;  A  Request  Declined  ;  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference in  Griffin  ;  Dr.  B.  T.  Tanner,  Dr.  B.  F.  Lee  and 
Others  ;  Transfers  ;  The  Work  of  1885. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

A  TRIO    OF    CONFERENCES. 

Georgia  Conference  "  at  Hawkinsville  1886  ;  Sympathy  for 
Bishop  Shorter;  Dr.  J.  C.  Embry  and  Dr.  J.  M.  Townsend ; 
An  Example  Followed ;  Admissions  and  Ordinations ; 
Resolutions  ;  Macon  Conference  at  Barnesville  ;  Secreta- 
ries ;  Admissions  and  Ordinations ;  The  Metropolitan 
Church  ;  Interests  of  Morris  Brown  College ;  A  Legitimate 
Business ;   General  Officers ;  Report  from  Morris  Brown 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

College  ;  Deaths  and  Transfers  ;  North  Georgia  Conference 
in  Atlanta  ;  Bishop  Shorter's  Bereavement ;  Bishop  Camp- 
bell Presides  ;  An  Interesting  Meeting  ;  A  Link  With  the 
Past ;  Ordinations  ;  Some  Deaths  ;  Personal  Affairs,  not 
Public  Affairs  ;  A  Decision  ;  The  Temperance  Cause  ;  Pre- 
siding Elders'  Reports  ;  Dollar  Money  and  Membership. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   CENTENNIAL  TEAR  OF  AFRICAN   METHODISM. 

The  First  Conference  in  Georgia  in  1887  ;  Its  Missionary 
Meetings  ;  Admissions,  Ordinations  and  Deaths ;  Threo 
Sermons  ;  Bishop  R.  H.  Cain's  Illness  and  Death  ;  The 
Approaching  Anniversary  ;  Reports  from  the  Six  Districts; 
A  Petition  Granted  ;  The  North  Georgia  Conference  at 
Rome,  November  9 ;  Bishop  Shorter's  Death ;  Bishop 
Wayman  Presides  ;  Classes  of  the  Year ;  Seven  Delegates 
to  General  Conference ;  Memorial  Exercises  ;  Dr.  Tan- 
ner's Tribute  to  Bishop  Cain  ;  Satisfactory  Reports  ;  The 
Macon  Conference,  Talbotton  ;  Bishop  Disney  Presides  • 
Stirring  Speeches ;  A  Warning ;  Delegates  to  General 
Conference  of  1888  ;  Some  Annual  Meetings  ;  Admissions 
and  Ordinations  ;  The  Centennial  Budget  and  Dr.  B.  W. 
Arnett ;  A  Retrospect. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

WORK  ASSIGNED   IN   1888. 

Another  Change  of  Date  ;  Twenty-one  Years  ;  The  Pioneers  ; 
Last  Conference  in  1887 ;  The  Usual  Business  ;  General 
Conference  Delegates ;  General  Conference  of  1888 ; 
Eleven  Episcopal  Districts  ;  The  Episcopal  Committee's 
Appointments  ;  Two  Newly  Elected  Bishops  ;  Bishop  W. 
J.  Gaines'  First  Conference  ;  His  Opening  Address  ;  An- 
nual Sermon  of  North  Georgia  Conference  ;  Sermons  and 
Ordinations  ;  Reports  and  Transfers  ;  Monies  ;  A  Pleasant 
Welcome  to  the  Macon  Conference  ;  Its  Work  ;  The  First 
Conference  in  Alabama  in  1888  ;  From  Mobile  to  the 
Georgia  Conference  in  Cuthbert ;  The  Work  of  this  Ses- 
sion. 


XX  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

EVE    OF   THE   QUARTO-CENTENNIAL. 

The  North  Georgia  Conference  at  Washington,  Georgia, 
1889  ;  General  Officers  Present ;  Morris  Brown  College  ; 
Excellent  Finances  ;  Spiritual  and  Financial  Growth  ;  The 
"  Missionary  Rule  ; "  Annual  Sermons  and  Regular  Busi- 
ness ;  The  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary ;  Programme  of  the 
Quarto-Centenial ;  Admission,  Transfers,  etc. ;  Bishop 
Campbell's  Conference  ;  The  North  Alabama  Conference, 
1889  ;  A  Pleasant  Ride  ;  Dr.  James  A.  Handy  and  Dr.  W. 
B.  Derrick  ;  The  Alabama  Conference  ;  Payne  Institute  at 
Selma  ;  Financial  Success ;  The  Journey  to  Brunswick, 
Georgia;  The  Mother  Conference ;  An  Intense  Straggle; 
Victory  and  General  Satisfaction. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   SIXTH  EPISCOPAL   DISTRICT. 

Review  of  Georgia ;  Leading  Appointments ;  Macon ;  Men 
of  the  Georgia  Conference ;  Number  of  Annual  Confer- 
ences;  Alabama;  Early  Work;  First  Missionaries ;  Ala- 
bama Conference ;  Its  Composition ;  Districts ;  Bishop 
Campbell  in  Alabama ;  A  Division ;  Bishops  Wayman  and 
Payne ;  Growth ;  Leading  Points  ;  Churches  in  Montgom- 
ery, Prattville,  Opelika ;  North  Alabama  Work ;  The  Men 
in  Alabama ;  Statistics  for  the  Sixth  District. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

AFRICAN    METHODISM,   EAST   AND   WEST. 

Place  of  Birth  ;  A  Brave  Deed ;  Richard  Allen  in  1779 ; 
Number  of  Eastern  Annual  Conferences ;  The  New  En- 
gland Conference  ;  Eastern  Work  ;  Western  Field  ;  Cin- 
cinnati, Chillicothe,  etc. ;  Work  in  Toronto  ;  1852  ;  First 
Division  into  Districts  ;  Southwest;  Conferences  Grouped; 
Future  Field. 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  SOUTHWEST  AND  OTHER  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

Arkansas,  Texas,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi  and  Lou- 
isiana ;  Texas  Conferences ;  Organization  of  Churches ; 
Hardships  ;  Pacific  Coast  ;  Other  Organization ;  South 
Carolina  ;   Florida. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   BISHOPS  OF   THE   WORK   IN  GEORGIA. 

Bishop  Payne  ;  First  Bishop  of  the  South  ;  Bishop  Payne's 
Aim ;  The  Senior  at  Home  ;  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown ;  The 
First  Colored  President  of  a  Colored  School ;  His  Mis- 
sionary Work  ;  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward  ;  His  Old  Missionary 
Field  ;  Bishop  Campbell  in  the  South  in  1876  ;  His  Four 
Years'  Work ;  Bishop  William  F.  Dickerson ;  Epigram- 
matic Speech ;  His  Death  ;  Bishop  James  A.  Shorter  ; 
Characteristics  ;  An  Unexpired  Term  filled ;  The  Present 
Bishop  ;   A  Biographical  Sketch. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

GENERAL   GROWTH  AND  FINANCE. 

Status  at  Close  of  Civil  War ;  Two  Admirable  Qualities ; 
The  Property  of  the  Church  in  Georgia ;  Statistics  of  1868 ; 
Growth  in  All  Ways ;  A  Wonderful  Land ;  Branches  of 
Industry;  Negro  Prosperity  in  Georgia;  Atlanta  and 
Macon ;  Macon's  Workers ;  Growth  Affecting  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church ;  The  Future  of  the  South ;  Our  Mission  Work ; 
One  Hundred  Per  Cent;  The  Madagascar  Church ;  Mis- 
sionary Work  To-day. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

EDUCATION  IN  THE   SOUTH. 

Unwritten  History;  Jamestown  and  Plymouth  Rock;  Op- 
portunities ;  What  Makes  the  Difference ;  A  Sealed  Book 
Opened ;  Hereditary  Possessions ;  Teacher  and  Preacher  ; 
The  North  in  the  Educational  Field  of  the  South ;  Its  First 
Work ;    Philanthropy ;    Schools  Now  Maintained  by  Some 


TXII  CONTENTS. 

Denominations;  Forty-third  Year  of  the  American  Mis- 
sion xry  Association  ;  The  A.  M.  E.  Church  in  Education ; 
Wilberforce  University  ;  Our  Early  Schools  in  the  South 
Kittrell  'Industrial  School  and  Allen  University ;  Paul 
Quinn  College,  Texas,  and  Divinity  School,  Florida ; 
Morris-Brown  College  in  Georgia ;  Other  Educational  Work 
in  the  South ;  Educational  Report ;  A  New  Department  i 
A  Day  of  Deliverance  ;  Elevation  from  Within  ;  Christian 
Money. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

TEMPERANCE. 

A  Terrible  Vice  ;  The  Duty  of  Mankind ;  A  Recent  Cam- 
paign ;  The  Liquor  Traffic ;  Some  Statistics ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Strong  ;  Intemperance  in  All  Things  ;  What  is  Necessary 
to  Success. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

IN  MEMORIAM. 

Sad  Tasks  ;  The  Old  Veterans  ;  Rev.  William  Gaines  ;  Thos- 
K.  Brown  ;  Zechariah  Armstrong  and  Gabriel  Clark  ;  Al- 
bert McGhee  ;  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Drayton ;  Rev.  Preston  B. 
Peters  and  Henry  Daniels ;  Rev.  Andrew  Brown ;  In  Peace 
or  In  War;  A  Noble  Record;  Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams  and 
Fortune  Robinson ;   The  Youngest  and  Oldest. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TWENTY-FIVE  TEARS  OF  FREEDOM. 

The  Quarto  -Centennial ;  Barbara  Heck  and  Philip  Embry  . 
Wesley  and  Allen ;  A  Half  Century ;  Conference  Growth 
in  the  South ;  The  Best  Condition ;  The  South  as  a  Mission 
Field;  The  Church  or  the  Negro;  Questions  Answered; 
The  Southern  Church  To-day;  A  Share  in  Education; 
Freedom  and  African  Methodism;  Our  Future  Destiny; 
Our  Possibilities  and  Responsibilities;  A  Permanent 
Church;  The  Mission  Fulfilled. 

APPENDIX. 


African  Methodism  in  the  South 


TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM. 


CHAPTER  I. 


INTRODUCTORY    CHAPTER. 


When,  over  one  hundred  years  ago  (1787),  a  hand- 
ful of  men,  led  by  Richard  Allen,  took  the  moment- 
ous step  in  the  Quaker  City  of  Philadelphia,  which 
resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  African  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  the  most  sanguine  well-wisher 
could  hardly  have  prophesied  that  the  small  begin- 
ning would  have  such  a  glorious,  wide-spread  result  as 
is  evidenced  to-day. 

This  little  band  was  desirous  of  serving  God,  but 
of  serving  him  as  men  ;  and  so,  breathing  deeply 
that  spirit  of  independence  and  love  of  freedom 
which  was  rife  in  the  air  of  America  that  eventful 
year,  and  which  has  wrought  so  much  for  this  broad 
country,  they  threw  off  the  yoke  which  bore  so  heav- 
ily upon  them  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  boldly  set  out  for  themselves. 

They  felt,  wisely  for  us,  that  the  service  they 
wished  to  render  Him  would  be  more  acceptable  in 


2  AFRICAN   METHODISM   EST  THE   SOUTH  ; 

His  sight  if  they  took  every  opportunity  for  eleva- 
tion that  lay  in  their  way  ;  and  that  this  separation 
from  a  church  that  recognized  them  only  as  inferior 
servants  of  God,  was  such  an  opportunity  seemed 
clear  as  a  direct  message  from  on  high. 

From  such  a  small  beginning  of  sixteen  men, 
meeting  in  the  first  convention  in  1816,  and  led  by 
the  first  bishop  who  received  consecration  to  that 
holy  office — Richard  Allen — the  little  twig  of  African 
Methodism,  then  planted,  grew  and  flourished.  It 
sent  out  its  roots  eastward  and  westward,  even  pen- 
etrating the  South  and  Southwest ;  everywhere  there 
seemed  the  merest  chance  for  lodgment,  and  in  almost 
every  instance  they  took  firm  hold  and  sent  up  new 
shoots  of  living  work  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Though  slavery  held  such  fast  grasp  upon  that 
portion  of  our  country  given  over  to  the  curse 
that  this  free  religious  movement  could  hold  but 
slight  and  precarious  existence,  there  were  countless 
hearts  beating  high  and  brave  throughout  that  land, 
waiting  only  for  the  dawn  to  step  out  boldly  into 
the  light  of  freedom.  Throughout  the  South  was 
that  vast  multitude  of  enslaved  ones,  doing  their 
duty  as  they  saw  it,  and  doing  it  marvelously  well, 
despite  wide-spread  ignorance,  while  patiently  biding 
their  time  when  they  might  drop  shackles  from  body, 
mind  and  religion.  This  mass  was  not  altogether 
ignorant.  There  was  scattered  here  and  there 
throughout  the  mass  a  little  leaven.  Here  and  there 
one  had  drunk  from  the  fountain  of  knowledge  with 
that   eager  thirst   which  restraint   and  secrecy  only 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   TEAES   OF   FREEDOM.  3 

stimulate.  Here  and  there  one  was  silently  helped 
by  those  whose  innate  sense  of  right  told  them  that 
the  Negro  had  not  only  a  soul  to  save,  but  a  mind  to 
train,  even  though  the  practice  of  generations  had 
rendered  their  moral  sense  so  obtuse  that  they  de- 
voutly believed  in  the  "divine  right  of  slavery." 
There  were  some  good  men  and  women,  too,  who  did 
not  hold  this  belief,  but  who  were  too  weak  to  brave 
this  sentiment  which  allowed  them  to  hold  in  bonds 
their  fellow-creatures,  and  so  trod  in  the  paths  of 
their  fathers,  seeking  to  ameliorate  in  other  ways  the 
condition  of  those  who  called  them  masters  of  their 
bodies.  To  all  these  who  so  labored  the  slaves  of 
those  days  give  thanks  for  these  gleams  of  sunshine 
in  the  surrounding  darkness  ;  for  the  scattered  peo- 
ple thus  partially  enlightened  were  enabled  to  take 
up  the  reins  when  the  day  of  freedom  broke,  and 
carry  on  the  work  which  came  to  their  hands  in  a 
creditable  manner. 

The  Negro  of  the  South  had  listened  for  years  to 
the  pulpit  which  taught,  "Slaves,  be  ye  subject  to 
your  masters,"  but  when  the  first  gun  of  the  rebel- 
lion was  fired  on  Major  Anderson  at  Fort  Sumter, 
it  found  its  echo  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  who  saw 
a  brighter  future  in  a  dim,  undefined  light  they  could 
not  analyze — a  future  which  was  to  rid  them  of  the 
weight  of  this  doctrine  at  least ;  and  when  that  great 
and  good  man,  Abraham  Lincoln,  struck  off  the 
shackles  from  the  limbs  of  four  million  beings,  he  in 
reality  shattered  as  well  the  fetters  which  had  bound 
the  Southern  Negro's  religious  freedom. 


AFKICAN  METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH 


CHAPTER   II. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    AFRICAN    METHODIST    EPISCO- 
PAL    CHURCH    IN    THE    SOUTH. 

The  joyful  news  of  emancipation  had  scarcely 
been  heard  before  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  America  made  its  preparations  to  send 
missionaries  to  the  South.  These  brethren  in  that 
more  favored  locality  had  borne  us  upon  their  hearts, 
and  with  the  first  chance  for  entrance  into  the  re- 
gion so  long  closed  by  slavery  and  still  defended  by 
cannon,  they  hastened  to  extend  the  hand  of  "  Our 
Father's  Church "  through  Rev.  James  Lynch  and 
Rev.  James  D..  S.  Hall — the  former  from  the  Balti- 
more Conference,  the  latter  from  the  New  York  Con- 
ference— the  first  two  men  to  come  to  Southern  soil 
from  that  church.  These  two  men  were  the  men 
first  regularly  commissioned  as  missionaries  to  the 
freedmen  of  the  South.  Of  the  two,  probably  Rev. 
James  Lynch*  was  the  more  prominent  worker,  as 
shown  by  his  subsequent  career.  He  is  described 
by  one  who  knew  him  as  having  a  piercing  black 
eye,  a  forehead  pf  immense  breadth,  jet  black  hair 
and  possessing  unmatched  eloquence  and  persuasive 
manners.*     These  men   were  those  through   whose 

*Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  D.  D.,  in  his  Centennial  Address. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE  TEARS   OF   FREEDOM.  0 

labors  the  South  Carolina  Conference  really  came  to 
be  brought  into  existence — they  were  the  forerunners 
of  the  great  work  stretching  out  before  us  now, 
twenty-five  years  later,  through  the  States  of  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida 
and  the  Southwest. 

It  was  in  the  city  of  Savannah,  Ga.,  that  the  first 
missionary  of  African  Methodism  was  found  to  begin 
the  labors  of  our  church  in  that  State.  Rev.  James 
Lynch  was  the  first  minister  of  the  African  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church  to  visit  Savannah  after  the  war, 
as  he  was  the  one  to  stand  in  that  city,  almost  before 
the  smoke  of  the  armies  had  died  away,  when  the 
United  States  forces  entered  and  captured  that  city 
in  1864;  so  the  same  State  and  city  were,  for  the 
second  time  in  the  history  of  America,  the  starting 
point  of  great  missionary  work,  for  it  is  a  peculiar 
coincidence  that  the  great  founder  of  Methodism, 
John  Wesley,  preached  his  first  sermon  in  that  city 
in  1730,  when  he  and  his  brother  began  their  mis- 
sionary labors  in  America. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  colored  Methodists  in 
Savannah,  while  really  under  the  watch-care  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  were  under  no  regular  pastor, 
but  were  kept  together  by  William  Bentley,  C.  L. 
Bradwell  and  William  Gaines.  When  James  Lynch 
visited  Savannah  at  that  time,  he  made  secret  ar- 
rangements with  Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell  to  take  out  the 
church.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  latter,  then  a 
local  preacher,  it  was  not  a  difficult  matter  to  bring 
them  into  the  fold  of  our  church.     The  affiliation  he 


6  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

proposed  to  them  was  thoughtfully  considered,  and 
after  mature  deliberation  was  accepted,  and  the 
first  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
State  of,  Georgia  was  organized  by  Rev.  A.  L.  Stan- 
ford.* Still,  little  more  than  some  mission  work  was 
done  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  that  city  in  the  few 
months  which  intervened  between  that  time  and  the 
recognition  of  this  church  by  the  first  session  of  the 
South  Carolina  Conference. 

In  May,  1865,  according  to  the  act  of  the  General 
Conference  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  of  1864,  calling 
for  the  establishment  of  the  church  in  the  South, 
Bishop  Daniel  A.  Payne  entered  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  to  plant  the  standard  of  African 
Methodism.  Thirty  years  before  he  had  left  the 
self-same  city  because  of  the  persecutions  which  put 
an  end  to  his  labors  there  as  a  teacher  of  his  race, 
and  this  was  his  first  return  to  the  scenes  of  his 
childhood  and  early  manhood,  and  a  most  triumphant 
one.  He  was  accompanied  by  Elder  James  A. 
Handy,  and  T.  G.  Steward  and  James  H.  A.  Johnson, 
licentiates.  These  three  were  to  be  missionaries  to 
the  "Freedmen,"  a  partial  support  being  assured 
them  by  the  American  Missionary  Association,  as  aid 
in  the  good  work. 

Bishop  Payne,  then  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  his 
bishopric,  set  about  the  organization  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  in  Charleston.  The  large  brick  edifice, 
known  as   the   Zion   Presbyterian   Church,   was   the 


*Rev.  James  Lynch  at  last  left  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  to  join  the  M.  E.  Church, 
.after  having  been  editor  of  the  only  church  paper  we  then  had — The  Christian 
Recorder.     He  died  later,  after  long  and  useful  labors. 


OE  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.  7 

place  of  assembly  for  the  first  session  of  what  then 
became  known  as  the  South  Carolina  Conference. 
There  were  then  over  40,000  colored  Methodists 
scattered  throughout  that  State.  The  session  opened 
May  15,  1865,  with  sixteen  ministers.  Seven  men 
had  been  selected  by  Bishop  Payne  to  assist  in  this 
opening  up  of  Southern  work — A.  L.  Stanford  and 
T.  G.  Steward,  from  the  Philadelphia  Conference ; 
James  A.  Handy  and  James  H.  A.  Johnson,  from  the 
Baltimore  Conference  ;  R.  H.  Cain,  from  the  New* 
York  Conference  ;  George  A.  Rue,  from  the  New 
England  Conference,  and  George  W.  Brodie,  from  the 
British  M.  E.  Church.  Of  these  only  T.  G.  Steward, 
James  A.  Handy,  James  H.  A.  Johnson  and  R.  H. 
Cain  were  present,  and  from  the  whole  number  but 
the  first  three  of  these  are  living  to-day.  Dr.  James 
A.  Handy  is  the  Financial  Secretary  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  and  Drs.  J.  H.  A.  Johnson  and  T.  G.  Steward 
honored  ministers  of  the  Baltimore  Conference  in 
the  same  church. 

Nine  other  ministers  from  the  South  were  associ- 
ated with  these  transferred  men,  making  the  whole 
force  sixteen.  These  were  Charles  L.  Bradwell, 
Wm.  Bentley,  James  Hill,  Gloucester  Taylor,  Robert 
M.  Taylor,  Richard  Vanderhorst  and  John  Graham. 
From  these  sixteen  of  this  first  Southern  Conference 
eight  regular  itinerant  preachers  went  out,  but  only 
one  of  the  nine  above  mentioned  entered  their  ranks. 
This  was  Charles  L.  Bradwell,  who  was  appointed  to 
Edisto  Island,  and  entered  immediately  upon  his 
work.     This  makes  Elder  C.  L.  Bradwell  the  oldest 


4 


8  AFEICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

native  itinerant  preacher  to-day  in  the  whole  of  the 
Southern  field. 

The  work  already  done  in  Georgia  was  recognized 
and  heartily  welcomed  at  this  session.  William 
Bentley  and  James  Hill,  of  Georgia,  were  ordained. 
C.  L.  Bradwell,  Gloucester  Taylor,  R.  M.  Taylor  and 
Cornelius  Murphy  were  received  on  probation  as 
licentiates. 

William  Gaines,  of  Georgia,  who  was  absent  fro 
this  Conference,  was  elected  to  deacon's  orders  and! 
was  ordained  by  Bishop  Payne  at  Hilton  Head, 
South  Carolina,  in  June  following  the  adjournment  of 
Conference,  and  was  sent  as  first  missionary  to  the 
northern  and  western  parts  of  Georgia.  The  work 
of  this  important  session,  which  particularly  affected 
this  State,  was  the  placing  of  all  the  native  preachers,, 
except  William  Gaines  and  C.  L.  Bradwell,  in  local 
work  in  the  neighborhood  of  Savannah.  Of  the 
transferred  men,  Rev.  A.  L.  Stanford  was  placed  in 
charge  of  Savannah,*  R.  H.  Cain  in  Charleston ; 
James  A.  Handy  in  Wilmington,  N.  C;  G.  W. 
Brodie  in  Raleigh,  N.  C;  T.  G.  Steward  in  Beaufort,. 
S.  C;  J.  H.  A.  Johnson  at  Hilton  Head,  and  G.  A. 
Rue  in  Newberne.  There  were  but  twelve  appoint- 
ments in  all,  and  we  see  but  eight  of  these  were 
supplied. 

The  Southern  work  had  now  opened  most  auspi- 
ciously, and  the  brethren  endeavored  to  push  it  for- 
ward. William  Gaines  visited  Macon,  Atlanta  and 
Columbus    and   organized  the  A.   M.  E.   Church  in 


*Rev.  A.  L.  Stanford  died  in  Africa. 


OE  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.  9 

these  cities.  When  Conference  adjourned,  the  Rev. 
James  Lynch  took  his  way  through  the  upper  part 
of  the  State  of  Georgia.  One  of  the  most  interest- 
ing points  was  Augusta,  and  there  his  efforts  were 
crowned  with  such  success  that  a  church  of  about 
two  hundred  members  was  received  into  the  connec- 
tion— the  Protestant  Methodist  Church — with  a  pas- 
tor who  did  valuable  service  in  the  church  of  his 
adoption  in  the  years  following.  This  pastor  was 
the  veteran  worker,  Samuel  W.  Drayton,  who  labored 
with  us  until  the  year  1885.  Of  him  and  other  pio- 
neers, we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  elsewhere. 

The  Lord  had  blessed  us.  The  connection  was 
growing  with  what  might  be  termed  a  healthy 
growth — that  is,  the  churches  to  which  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship  was  offered  made  no  unseemly- 
haste  for  affiliation,  but  after  mature  deliberations,, 
which  were  at  many  times  lengthy  and  critical, 
transferred  themselves  to  the  fold  of  African  Meth- 
odism. This  deliberation  was  wise,  for  it  gave  as- 
surance of  the  future  stability  of  a  union  which 
must  possess  this  important  characteristic  for  suc- 
cessful increase  in  strength. 

W^th  the  two  main  points  of  Savannah  and  Au- 
gusta as  centers  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  when 
the  radiating  influence  should  draw  in  other  out- 
standing bodies  of  Methodist  Christians.  As  has 
been  said,  Rev.  William  Gaines  (the  writer's  brother) 
had  visited  Macon,  Columbus  and  Atlanta,  and  soon 
those  large  and  interesting  bodies  of  colored  Meth- 
odists were  withdrawn  from  fellowship  with  the  M.  E. 


10  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

Church,  South,  and  added  to  our  own.*  With  the 
winter  of  1866-7  Rev.  Henry  M.  Turner,  who  held 
the  appointment  of  a  chaplain  in  the  U.  S.  Army, 
•came  to  Augusta,  Ga.,  to  begin  his  efforts  for  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church,  succeeding  William  Gaines,  who 
died  in  Columbus,  Ga.,  Nov.  20,  1865.  It  was 
through  his  unwearying  efforts  principally  that  the 
successful  ingathering  was  carried  on.  He  made  a 
tour  of  upper  Georgia,  visiting  the  cities  of  the  most 
importance  in  pursuance  of  the  work.  The  extensive 
tour  of  the  newly-elected  bishop,  A.  W.  Wayman, 
through  the  State  during  this  winter  (1866)  accom- 
plished much  for  the  cause,  as  had  also  the  visit  of 
the  same  with  Elisha  Weaver  at  Savannah  in  the 
early  spring  of  1865 — a  visit  which  Bishop  Wayman 
mentions  in  his  "Recollections,"  and  a  memorable 
one,  for  the  two  came  down  at  the  call  of  Rev. 
James  Lynch,  and  the  Bishop  gave  his  noted  sermon 
from  the  text,  "I  seek  my  brethren,"  in  the  same 
church  where  the  first  Conference  was  held  in 
Charleston  the  May  following. 

When  the  South  Carolina  Conference  held  its 
second  annual  session  in  Savannah,  May  14th,  in 
the  spring  of  1866,  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner  had  fourteen 
brethren  to  present  to  it.  They  were  Andrew 
Brown,  W.   B.   Campbell,  Henry  Strickland,   Harry 


*The  writer  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Davies,  Presiding  Elder  of  that  church;  but  he  joined  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
under  the  administration  of  William  Gaines,  in  Columbus,  Ga.,  and  upon  the 
street,  St.  Clara,  having  met  him  there.  William  Gaines  then  authorized  him  to 
organize  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  in  the  counties  of  Muscogee  and  Chattahoochee,  as 
he  was  then  living  on  the  line  of  these  two  counties  on  a  plantation  ten  miles  from 
■Columbus,  owned  by  Gabriel  Toombs,  the  brother  of  Robert  Toombs. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF   FREEDOM.         11 

Stubbs,  S.  B.  Jones,  Burrell  Jackson,  Thomas  Gar- 
rett, Joseph  A.  Wood,  Thomas  Crayton,  Robert 
Anderson,  Fortune  Robinson,  E.  L.  Bailey  and  the 
writer.  Of  these  there  are  now  living  (1890)  S.  B. 
Jones,  Joseph  A.  Wood,  Henry  Strickland,  Thomas 
Crayton,  Robert  Anderson  and  the  writer.  Rev. 
Peter  McLain  was  present  but  was  not  ordained. 
All  of  these,  except  Joseph  A.  Wood,  immediately 
entered  upon  the  itinerant  service,  and  all  have  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  church  with  one  exception — 
W.  B.  Campbell,  who  withdrew  and  joined  the  Col- 
ored M.  E.  Church.  Although  Joseph  A.  Wood  did 
not  take  itinerant  work,  he  did  the  church  great 
service  as  a  local  preacher.* 

But  these  fourteen  did  not  comprise  the  entire 
number  who  were  presented  by  elders  for  itinerant 
service.  Thirty-eight  in  all  were  admitted  on  trial, 
and  the  remaining  twenty-four  were  from  South 
Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Florida  and  Alabama. 
It  was  a  solemn  scene  as  Bishop  Payne  set  apart 
forty-six  persons  as  deacons  and  elders — one  which, 
as  Bishop  B.  T.  Tanner  declares  in  his  "Apology  for 
African  Methodism,"  "will  never  be  forgotten  by 
those  whose  privilege  it  was  to  be  present."  It 
was  a  session  of  rejoicing  as  well,  for  we  all  knew 
what  it  meant  for  the  South  and  for  the  church  we 
loved. 


♦He  organized  Wood's  Chapel  in  Atlanta,  known  to-day  as  Allen  Temple. 


12  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IJST  THE   SOUTH  ; 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  FIRST  GEORGIA    CONFERENCE. 

The  South  Carolina  Conference  at  this  time  (1866) 
embraced  the  States  of  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, Georgia,  Florida  and  Alabama,  and  the  work 
which  it  entered  upon  at  this  session  was  one  of  im- 
portance. The  efforts  of  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner  were 
recognized  by  his  appointment  as  superintendent  of 
the  work  in  upper  Georgia,  with  Macon  as  his  head- 
quarters. No  better  man  could  have  been  found  to 
bear  and  plant  our  colors,  for  in  the  early  prime  of 
life  he  was  what  we  see  him  to  be  to-day,  a  fearless,  ag- 
gressive man — one  so  much  needed  in  those  early 
days  at  the  close  of  the  civil  war,  days  which  tried 
men's  souls  as  well  as  did  the  tumult  and  dangers  of 
the  battle-field. 

Lower  Georgia  was  provided  for  in  Rev.  A.  L. 
Stanford,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Savannah. 
Rev.  Robert  Anderson  was  at  Americus,  and  later, 
Rev.  W.  H.  Noble  at  Cuthbert,  and  Rev.  Fortune 
Robinson  at  Lumpkin.  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Wood  was- 
an  able  preacher  at  Atlanta  about  this  time,  while, 
among  early  leaders,  Richard  Vanderhorst  succeeded 
S.  W.  Drayton  at  Augusta,  whom  Conference  had 
consented  to  locate.     The  writer  also  began  the  work 


OK   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF   FREEDOM!  13 

in  Southwestern  Georgia  on  Florence  Circuit  on  the 
Chattahoochee  River. 

This  year  was  one  of  trying  labor  from  these  im- 
portant local  centers.  There  was  much  to  contend 
against  from  both  white  and  colored.  The  former 
noted  a  movement,  the  independence  of  which  grated 
harshly  upon  them  under  so  recent  defeats  and 
losses,  and  the  inexperience  in  our  own  ranks  led  to 
varying  results.  Then  there  was  a  prejudice  born 
•of  generations,  of  the  recognized  dominion  of  the 
whites  which  we  had  to  meet  and  overcome  in  lead- 
ing the  bodies  of  Negroes  to  seek  a  church  where 
they  could  be  free  and  untrameled  in  their  religious 
-worship. 

Still  we  increased,  but  the  data  concerning  the 
opening  up  of  other  districts  that  conference  year, 
is  insufficient  to  enable  us  to  give  a  detailed  account 
•of  the  spread  of  the  church.  It  is  sufficient  to  the 
credit  of  the  laborers,  that  when  the  spring  of  1867 
opened,  with  the  Annual  Conference,  held  at  Wilming- 
ton, N.  C,  the  cheering  report  was  made  that  it  had 
nearly  cohered  the  States  under  its  jurisdiction. 
Thirty  circuits  and  stations  were  reported  for  Geor- 
gia alone,  and  equally  as  many  or  more  in  South 
Carolina,  with  quite  a  number  .in  Florida  and  Ala- 
bama, while  there  were  not  less  than  48,000  or 
50,000  members  in  the  whole. 

At  this  Conference,  forty-six  ministers  joined  the 
itinerant  force  and  ninety-eight  ministers  were  or- 
-dained.  The  appointments  all  told  were  one  hun- 
dred  and  two,   and  they  were   nearly  all  supplied. 


14  AFRICAN"   METHODISM   OT  THE   SOUTH  ; 

Opposition  had  been  met  at  Americus,  Ga.,  and 
there  were  dark  discouragements  from  Rome,  but 
the  light  was  strong  and  it  threw  its  beams  so  far 
into  the  darkness  that  we  could  but  exclaim  that  the 
Lord  had  indeed  been  good  to  us  as  a  people  and  as 
a  church.  Savannah  had  taken  the  lead  in  forward 
movement,  as  she  should,  through  Rev.  A.  L.  Stan- 
ford, and  the  report  of  a  church  site  purchased,  a 
parsonage  built  and  a  church  basement  in  process 
of  erection,  gladdened  the  brethren's  hearts.  At 
this  Conference,  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner  presented  six- 
teen brethren  :  John  Ricks,  Ephraim  Russell, 
Willis  Jones,  Lazarus  Gardner,  R.  B.  Bailey,  Wm. 
Raven,  Wm.  H.  Harris,  Watty  Parks,  Wm.  Cherry, 
Joseph  Brown,  Robert  Brown,  Willis  Persons,  Joseph 
Jennings,  Nelson  Beacham,  Robert  Crumley  and 
Edward  Tr?pp. 

This  was  an  all-important  session  for  the  States 
of  Georgia,  Florida  and  Alabama.  A  petition  was 
made  to  Bishop  Wayman*  to  set  these  States  off 
into  a  separate  Conference,  for  the  A.  M.  E.  work 
had  so  increased  in  the  two  years  of  its  Southern 
existence  that  this  step  was  not  only  warranted  but 
demanded  as  an  actual  necessity.  In  fact,  it  was 
just  such  vigorous  growth  that  demanded  the  in- 
crease in  the  Bench  of  B'shops  at  the  next  General 
Conference. 

This  petition  was  recognized,  and  Bisho  3  Wayman 


♦Bishop  Payne  was  absent  from  his   regular  work  and   Bishop  Wayman  held 
his  Conferences  in  his  absence. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         15 

gave  more  than  was  asked — he  granted  each  State 
separate  Conferences.  With  this  wise  action,  the 
Georgia  Conference  took  its  rise  and  entered  upon 
an  independent  existence,  though  as  yet  it  was  really 
only  a  mission  Conference  still  awaiting  the  higher 
sanction  which  was  to  come  at  the  next  session  of 
the  General  Conference  to  be  held  in  Washington,  D. 
C,  May,  1868.  But  the  youthful  body  held  its  first 
session  as  a  separate  Conference  on  the  30th  of  May, 
1867,  fifty  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  body 
of  which  it  had  been  a  part. 

Of  course  it  was  not  burdened  with  business  at 
this  time.  Some  matters  unattended  to  at  the  South 
Carolina  Conference  were  dispatched,  and  we  pro- 
ceeded to  see  clearly  where  we  stood.  The  leading 
points  in  Georgia  then  stood  manned  as  follows: 
Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell,  at  Augusta;  Rev.  David  Pickett, 
at  Columbus;  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner,  at  Macon;  Rev. 
R.  P.  Gibbs,  at  Savannah;  Rev.  W.  H.  Noble,  at 
Cuthbert;  Rev.  Fortune  Robinson,  at  Albany;  Rev. 
T.  G.  Steward,  at  Lumpkin,  and  the  writer  at  At- 
lanta. From  the  one  handful  at  Savannah  in  1864, 
protected  by  military  forces,  we  had  increased  to 
about  20,000,  as  near  as  we  could  judge,  scattered 
throughout  the  State,  for  which  we  gave  thanks  to 
the  Lord. 

The  work  which  lay  outside  of  the  State,  and  yet 
within  what  was  called  the  Georgia  Conference,  em- 
braced all  charges  lying  along  the  Chattahoochee 
River  in  Alabama.  With  this  outlook  the  forces 
moved    forward   the    following  year  until  the   next 


16  AFEICAN  METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

meeting  of  the  Georgia  Mission  Conference — its  sec- 
ond session — which  was  held  in  Macon,  Ga.,  1868. 
This  was  its  first  regular  annual  session,  Bishop 
Wayman  presiding,  and  the  regular  Conference  busi- 
ness was  harmoniously  carried  on. 

To  improve  and  set  going  missionary  interests,  the 
State  work  was  divided  into  six  districts,  each  in  the 
hands  of  a  competent  Presiding  Elder,  who,  with  the 
President  of  the  Conference  Missionary  Society, 
would  meet  and  further  the  work.  A  traveling  agent 
was  also  appointed  in  the  same  cause.  The  educa- 
tional work  was  looked  after  as  well.  The  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  keenly  alive  to  the 
importance  of  both  of  these  interests  from  the  first 
in  the  South,  and  now,  with  Rev.  B.  T.  Tanner 
placed  as  Chairman  of  the  Educational  Committee, 
that  report,  as  might  be  expected,  expressed  "the 
highest  present  duty  to  ourselves  and  people,  in  view 
of  already  possessing  robust  constitutions  and  a  living 
faith,  as  being  to  strive  to  acquire  wisdom  that  we  may 
be  accounted  workmen  that  need  not  be   ashamed." 

A  large  delegation  was  elected  to  the  General 
Conference  to  meet  in  May  following  (1868),  ten 
in  all,  aside  from  the  alternates  and  those  who  were 
members,  under  the  existing  law.  The  delegates 
were  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner,  Rev.  W.  J.  Gaines,  Rev. 
C.  L.  Brad  well,  Rev.  Andrew  Brown,  Rev.  W.  H. 
Noble,  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  Rev.  H.  Stubbs,  Rev. 
H.  Strickland,  Rev.  S.  B.  Jones,  Rev.  David  Pickett, 
Rev.  S.  N.  Drayton.  Rev.  Peter  McLain  and  Thomas 
K.  Brown  were  alternates.     Rev.  H.  M.  Turner  and 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF   FREEDOM.        17 

K.  Brown  were  alternates.  Rev.  H.  M.Turner  and 
Rev.  R.  P.  Gibbs  were  the  members  under  the  laws 
then  in  force,  but  as  the  latter  had  died,  Rev.  J.  B, 
Hamilton  took  his  place. 

There  was  some  opposition  to  the  admission  of 
these  delegates  when  they  met  the  General  Con- 
ference in  Washington,  D.  C.  It  was  true,  that  if 
the  General  Conference  were  to  follow  the  constitu- 
tion then  in  force  for  fifty  years,  these  delegates  had 
no  claim  whatever  to  a  seat  in  the  body,  but  it 
wisely  and  justly  saw  that  the  work  they  represented 
must  be  recognized,  and  an  unwritten  motion  by 
Rev,  Wm.  Moore,  of  the  Philidelphia  Conference, 
brought  about  the  recognition,  and  seated  the  dele- 
gates. As  a  result,  this  revolutionary  step  changed 
the  constitution  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  and  the 
mode  of  making  up  the  General  Conference  for  all 
the  years  which  have  followed. 

The  progress  reported  at  Washington  was  cheer- 
ing. Churches  were  being  built  and  church  prop- 
erty purchased.  At  Atlanta  two  churches  were 
commenced,*  and  there  were  fifty-seven  appoint- 
ments in  the  State,  aside  from  the  mission  work,  and 
all  were  filled.  The  most  aged  person  of  the  Geor- 
gia Mission  Conference,  Thomas  K.  Brown,  then 
eighty  years  of  age,  had  been  left  without  an  ap- 
pointment. 

There  was  nothing  to  do  but  recognize  the  work 

*The  church  on  Summer  Hill,  built  by  Rev.  Joseph  A.  Wood  and  called 
Wood's  Chapel,  and  Bethel  A.  M.  E.  Ohurcb,  Wheat  ^t.,   by  the  writer.    A 
new  church  was  built  later  (1883)  by  Rev.  J.  G.  Yeizer,  at  corner  of  Clarke 
andFrazier  Sts.,  and  called  Allen  Temple. 
2 


18  AFRICAN   METHODISM   EST   THE   SOUTH; 

and  sanction  the  division  from  the  South  Carolina 
Conference  already  made  under  Bishop  Wayman. 
The  table  of  statistics  showed  an  encouraging  out- 
look at  this  session  of  the  Georgia  Conference,  and 
as  a  whole,  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  work  begun 
in  1864  and  shaped  in  1865. 

And  here  we  quote  from  the  records,  which  give 
briefly  the  words  of  one  of  these  grand  pioneers — 
Rev.  Andrew  Brown — spoken  fourteen  years  later 
upon  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  A.  M.  Church  in 
Georgia: 

"I  am  not  so  superstitious  as  to  claim  to  be  a 
prophet,  nor  the  son  of  a  prophet,  but  I  saw  the  A. 
M.  E.  Church  in  1844  as  bright  as  I  see  her  to- 
night. I  then  prayed  that  I  might  outlive  the  sur- 
rounding circumstances,  and  see  the  church  in  reality 
as  I  then  saw  it  in  my  mind.  The  day  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  split  from  the  M.  E.  Church,  while 
in  the  woods  upon  my  knees,  God  showed  me  this 
church.  The  day  was  dark,  but,  thank  God,  we 
waited  on  and  on.  God's  horse  was  tied  to  the  iron 
stake.  For  a  long  time  he  failed  to  prance  in  Geor- 
gia and  South  Carolina.  The  day  the  first  fire  was 
made  at  Sumter,  1  saw  the  Gospel  Horse  begin  to 
paw.  He  continued  to  paw  until  he  finally  broke 
loose  and  came  tearing  through  Georgia.  The  col- 
ored man  mounted  him  and  intends  to  ride  him.  He 
is  not  particular  where  he  goes,  for  he  has  practiced 
until  he  can  and  does  ride  him  in  the  white  man's 
pulpit.  In  1866  I  was  in  Dalton.  In  1865  I,  a  poor 
bare-footed,  bare-headed  man,  had  met  in  Atlanta  a 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.         19 

man  named  James  Lynch;  he  told  me  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church.  The  first  of  September  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  held  their  Conference  and  sent  a  preacher 
to  preach  to  the  colored  people  in  Dalton.  He  sent 
for  me  and  told  me  he  was  sent  there.  I  told  him 
we  could  not  comply  with  his  request;  we  must  look 
for  ourselves.  He  said  if  I  was  going  to  take  the 
people,  to  take  them  and  leave.  I  thanked  him  and 
we  left.  We  were  in  a  sad  plight,  for  there  was  not 
an  ordained  minister  from   Chattanooga  to  Atlanta. 

"In  1866  we  met  in  Savannah  for  the  first  time 
as  a  Conference.  There  I  met  Dr.  Turner,  who 
gave  me  the  Marietta  District.  Turner  threw  me 
on  the  right  wing,  Stanford  on  the  left,  and  he  held 
the  centre. 

"What  did  we  know  at  the  first  Conference  ? 

"When  I  was  Fresiding  Elder  of  the  Marietta 
District,  there  was  but  one  colored  man  that  could 
write  his  name  and  read  the  hymn-book.  We  had 
to  get  little  white  boys  and  poor  white  men  to  act 
as  Secretaries  of  the  Quarterly  Conference.  Now 
(1880)  we  cannot  call  a  dozen  men  together  unless 
there  are  several  scribes  among  them.  At  the  Con- 
ference in  Atlanta,  only  one  Secretary  could  be 
found,  and  he  had  to  read  his  writing  while  it  was 
hot,  for  if  it  ever  got  cold  he  could  never  have  read 
it  in  the  world.  After  the  rising  of  the  adjourned 
Conference,  which  met  in  Macon,  Ga.,  we  com- 
menced to  grow,  and  have  advanced  steadily  on 
until  now. 


20  AFEICAIST   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH: 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GEORGIA,    1868-I871. 

The  General  Conference  of  1868  gave  us  three 
new  bishops  :  James  A.  Shorter,  T.  M.  D.  Ward 
and  J.  M.  Brown,  the  first  named  now  called  to  rest 
from  his  labors.  It  also  gave  the  South  Carolina,. 
Georgia,  Florida  and  Alabama  work  to  Bishop  J. 
M.  Brown. 

Under  this  arrangement  the  next  session  of  the 
Georgia  Annual  Conference  was  held  at  Columbus, 
February  6,  1869,  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  presiding, 
though  his  first  work  was  to  organize  the  Alabama 
Conference  at  Selma,  July  25,  1868.  He  brought  to 
his  work  his  scholarship,  amiability,  firmness  and 
sympathy,  which  won  from  us  our  love  and  respect 
for  him  as  a  gentleman  and  the  embodiment  of  dig- 
nity. 

It  was  at  this  Conference  that  two  representatives 
from  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  were  introduced  to 
the  Conference  and  made  some  very  interesting 
statements.  It  was  claimed  that  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  proposed  to  carry  out  in  good  faith  the  terms 
of  amity  and  alliance  agreed  upon  with  our  Church  in 
the  General  Conference  of  the  former  in  New  Orleans 
in  1866.  During  the  subsequent  remarks  it  was 
learned  that  one    of    the  gentleman,    Rev.    James 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.         21 

Evans,  was  the  chairman  of  a  committee  appointed 
by  that  General  Conference  on  the  condition  of  the 
colored  people.  It  was  also  elicited  that  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  intended  to  organize  an  independent 
colored  body  in  connection  with  themselves,  not,  as 
Rev.  James  Evans  said,  "forthe  purpose  of  engender- 
ing strife,"  and  that  they  "did  not  propose  to  disturb 
our  congregations  and  would  not  affiliate  with  a  mi- 
nority of  our  congregations  for  that  purpose,"  what- 
ever that  might  mean.  Co-operation  and  friendship, 
though,  were  pledged  us,  but  with  caution,  as  was 
evidenced  by  the  expression,  '-only  while  we  were 
engaged  in  'our  one  work.'  " 

Of  course  we  were  at  liberty  to  interpret  each  for 
himself  what  was  meant  by  this  and  act  accordingly- 
And  here  I  may  say  that  Rev.  James  Evans  was  an 
able  preacher,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  whose  influ- 
ence as  a  minister  was  above  the  average  of  ministers 
in  his  church,  and  had  the  M.  E.  Church  seen  fit  to 
stand  by  the  pledge  made  in  their  General  Confer- 
ence in  1866,  there  would  have  been  no  division  of 
the  colored  Methodists  of  the  South,  except  of  those 
brethren  who  joined  the  M.  E.  Church.  The 
A.  M.  E.  Church  was  well  organized  to  take  care  of 
the  colored  Methodists  of  the  South,  and  there  was 
no  need  of  a  Colored  Methodist  Church  of  America 
as  set  up  by  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  It  was  the 
fear  of  the  political  influence  of  the  North  that  made 
that  church  organize  this  C.  M.  E.  Church  of 
America.  They  felt  that  the  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  was  a  political  church  in  sympathy 


22  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

with  the  North.  They  made  a  mistake.  While  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church  believed  fully  in  the  freedom  of 
the  race  and  appreciated  those  who  brought  about 
that  freedom,  this  church  is  not,  and  never  has  been 
a  political  church  no  more  than  is  any  other  Chris- 
tian church. 

There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  already  felt  at  that  early  date  the 
serious  transition  which  must  take  place  when  the 
colored  people  became  independent  church  bodies, 
and  fearing  the  possible  results,  it  was  deemed  nec- 
essary to  retain  what  hold  might  be  possible,  as  the 
words  from  the  General  Conference  of  1866  in- 
dicated. 

At  this  session  of  the  Georgia  Conference,  the 
public  evinced  a  desire  to  know  what  our  body  was 
doing,  and  the  editor  of  the  American  Union  ten- 
dered us  the  use  of  his  columns,  which  favor  was  ac- 
cepted in  the  same  spirit  as  offered. 

This  Conference  admitted  nineteen  in  full  fellow- 
ship and  elected  the  following  to  deacons'  orders: 
Samuel  Ross,  George  Reed,  Jeremiah  Brown, *S.  H. 
Robertson,  Daniel  Brown,  Martin  Johnson,  Larkin 
Matthews,  Jesse  Dinkins,  Henry  Redd,  Washington 
Benjamin,  Larry  Thomas,  Lacy  Beck,  Wesley 
Mappe,  Daniel  McGee,  Lewis  Davis,  James  Jackson, 
Greene  -Yorke,  Nelson  Harris  and  Wesley  Rogers. 

The  cheering  news  was  also  communicated  to  us, 
in  a  memorial  from  Fort  Valley,  that  the  colored 
Methodists  there  desired  to  give  in  their  adherence  to 
our  church.     Thus  our  strength  increased. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF   FREEDOM.         23 

One  thing  noticeable  was  that  there  were  few  com- 
plaints before  us  at  this  session,  and,  as  they  turned 
out  to  be  errors  of  the  head  in  most  cases,  were  easily 
disposed  of. 

The  work  was  extended  to  take  in  new  points. 
Sylvania  Mission  in  Screven  Co.;  Cherokee  Mission, 
embracing  Powder  Springs,  Cherokee  and  Acworth; 
Albany  Mission,  Dougherty  Co.;  Mitchell  County 
Mission  and  Starkville  Mission,  Lee  Co,  were 
created.  Mt.  Zion  was  added  to  Griffin  charge,  and 
Union  Point  and  Fork  Chapel  were  added  to  the 
Greensboro  charge. 

The  churches  of  other  denominations  showed  such 
fraternal  feeling,  that  the  ladies  of  the  Second  Bap- 
tist Church  donated  a  sum  of  money.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  from  the  first  the  women  of  the  South  took 
an  active  part  in  helping  on  the  cause.  Two  societies 
of  our  church  also  sent  in  money:  the  "Daughters 
of  Conference"  and  "Daughters  of  Wayman." 

Education  absorbed  much  of  the  attention  of  Con- 
ference. Support  was  pledged  to  Wilberforce  Uni- 
versity, the  only  school  of  note  of  which  we  could 
then  boast,  and  ministerial  education  was  warmly 
urged  in  an  able  sermon  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner.  A 
report  from  the  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools 
of  the  sub-district  of  Augusta  ably  set  forth  the 
general  condition  of  the  schools,  and  of  education 
throughout  the  State.  Some  of  these  points  are  so 
pertinent  to  our  work  in  those  days  that  they  are 
noted  here.  The  Atlanta  schools  were  reported  with 
an  average  attendance  of  but  little   less  than  1,000; 


AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

Macon  had  about  the  same,  and  Augusta  about  two- 
thirds  that  number.  The  buildings  in  these  cities 
were  fine  and  commodious.  It  is  true  that  the  Ne- 
gro race  in  the  South  started  in  upon  the  work  of 
education  under  the  existing  state  of  affairs  in  a  very 
encouraging  manner.  There  was  no  such  thing  then 
as  a  public  school  system  in  the  South,  but  from  the 
North  had  come  teachers  of  intellectual  ability  and 
refinement — educated  Christian  disciples — and  in 
1868-69  the  colored  schools  of  the  South  were  with- 
out doubt  the  best  manned  and  systematized  of  any 
in  that  section .  This  was  especially  true  of  Geor- 
gia. It  was  a  great  change  from  the  sheds  and 
cabins  of  three  and  a  half  years  before,  where,  by  the 
light  of  pine-wood  knots,  the  rudiments  were  taught 
under  trying  situations.  The  work  of  the  Macon 
and  Atlanta  schools  was  particularly  noted  in  this 
report,  and  it  was  also  noted  that  Latin  and  Algebra 
were  taught — there  being  in  the  case  of  one  pupil 
sufficient  advancement  for  these  studies.* 

The  Conference  was  exhorted  by  this  gentleman 
to  raise  up  competent  teachers  and  to  acquire  means 
for  supporting  schools  as  fast  as  possible.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  these  words  have  always  been  with  us 
rom  the  day  of  utterance,  and  the  schools  of  the 
South  which  we  foster  to-day  are  eloquent  witnesses 
of  our  endeavors. 

It  was  at  this  Conference  that,    according  to   pro- 


*Prof.  W.  S.  Scarborough,  of  Wilberforce  University,  Professor  of  Latin 
and  Greek,  was  then  a  youth  in  Macon,  and  the  pupil  who  studied  Latin. 
He  was  the  first  pupil  iu  Latin  in  the  Atlanta  University. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF   FREEDOM.         25 

vision,  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward  addressed  the  Confer- 
ence upon  the  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  A.  M.  E 
Church  in  Georgia."*  Thestatistics  of  this  year 
show  that  there  were  sixty-three  circuits,  stations 
and  missions,  while  building  was  on  the  increase,  as 
well  as  the  Sunday-school  work,  which  was  also 
earnestly  presented  in  an  interesting  report.  Thus 
early  was  the  future  welfare  of  our  church  looked 
after,  and  every  means  urged  to  make  this  important 
part  of  our  work  a  nursery  indeed  of  the  church. 

It  is  pleasing  to  notice  that  even  literature  had  a 
start  at  least  in  Georgia.  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  who 
was  at  the  time  President  of  the  Freedmans'  Saving" 
Bank  in  Macon,  put  his  varied  talents  into  use,  and, 
with  his  other  duties,  published  a  Sunday-school 
paper  called  "  The  Sling  and  Stone,"  which  Confer- 
ence adopted  and  promised  help  in  sustaining.  The 
session  of  1869  adjourned  February  15,  after  nine 
days'  deliberation,  to  meet  in  Americus,  tnough  there 
was  contention  for  several  other  leading  points  as  the 
place  of  assembly.  In  Americus,  then,  January  28, 
1870  it  was  opened.  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  was  in  his 
place  in  the  chair,  and  J.  W.  Randolph  was  ap- 
pointed Secretary,  with  T.  G.  Steward  as  Recording 
Secretary.  From  the  six  Presiding  Elder  districts, 
into  which  the  St'ate  was  then  divided,  a  large  num- 
ber were  presented  for  admission  on  trial.  H.  M. 
Turner,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Macon  District,  pre- 

*It  is  to  this  document  that  the  writer  owes  much  in  the  way  of  his- 
tory concerning  those  first  few  years  when  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
obtain  exact  data,  because  of  the  uncertain  and  scattered  condition  of 
the  church  work  and  the  few  records  which  were  kept- 


26  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

sented  Henderson  Brown,  Isaac  Goodwell,  Abram 
Purdee  as  itinerants,  and  James  C.  Greer,  Wm. 
McKay,  Willis  Dupont,  J.  G.  Mitchell,  C.  H.  Fair- 
fax, A.  B.  Davis,  H.  B.  Dowell,  Warren  Shorts, 
Thomas  Smith,  Thomas  Ball  and  Madison  Brookins, 
local;  S.  W.  Drayton,  P.  E.,  of  Savannah  District, 
George  Christburg,  Henry  Taylor,  itinerants;  An- 
drew Brown,  P.  E.,  of  Atlanta  District,  Robert 
Brown,  itinerant,  and  Charles  Prince,  local;  Burrell 
Jackson,  P.  E.,  of  Augusta  District,  John  H.  Harris, 
Hamilton  Birdsong,  Andrew  Lowe,  itinerants,  and 
Wm.  McCullough,  Peter  Cruse  and  Ebenezer  Davis, 
local;  S.  B.  Jones,  P.  E.,  of  Marietta  District,  Jona- 
than Parks,  Wm.  H.  Harris,  Houston  Holloway, 
Madison  Neal,  itinerants;  W.  H.  Noble,  P.  E  ,  of 
Cuthbert  District,  George  Gambel,  Mansfield  Dil- 
liard,  Richard  Ford,  Crawford  Buford,  Samuel 
Perry,  George  Hood,  Anderson  Perkins,  local.  In 
addition  to  these  were  the  following  names  :  Josiah 
Jones,  Madison  George,  Benjamin  Cummings, 
Peter  Harris,  D.  O.  Alexander,  John  M.  Cargile, 
John  Mimms,  Berry  Jackson,  E.  P.  Holmes,  Martin 
Wright,  Henry  McGhee,  Shadrach  Cargile,  John 
Wynne,  Aaron  Dickey,  Washington  Brown  and 
Peter  Harris,  itinerants. 

When  the  ninth  question  of  discipline  was  taken 
up,  the  following  names  were  reported  for  deacons' 
orders  :  James  Greene.  C.  H.  Fairfax,  Harrison 
Dowdell,  Abner  Davis,  Warren  Shorts,  Johnson 
Parks,  Madison  George,  Patrick  Park,W.  H.  Harris, 
Houston    Holloway,  John    Harris,    H.   H.    Taylor, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.         27 

George  Christburg,  Mansfield  Dilliard,  Abram 
Purdee,  W.  McCullough,  all  itirerants,  with  Prof. 
John  G.  Mitchell,  Charles  Prince,  Shadrach  Cargile, 
Eli  Kimble,  Claiborne  Bush,  Buford  Crawford,  D. 
O.  Alexander,  Washington  Brown,  Aaron  Dickey, 
iVnderson  Perkins,  Thomas  Ball,  Burton  Saunders, 
Luke  Kirkland  and  Berrv  Jackson,  of  Alabama,  all 
local.  The  Elders,  Nelson  Beacham,  H.  O.  Neal, 
Robert  Brown,  N.  H.  Russell,  Henry  Porter,  Archie 
Gilbert,  Benjamin  Lampkin,  R.  Williams,  F.  Robin- 
son, Zachariah  Armstrong,  J.  K.  Brown,  John  T. 
Gibson,  David  Anderson,  G.  P.  Brown,  A.  N.  Bur- 
ton. Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell  and  Rev.  J. W.  Stevenson, 
respectively,  preached  the  ordination  sermons. 

There  was  an  endeavor  to  have  a  branch  of  the 
Book  Concern  located  in  Atlanta,  Ga  ,  and  a  motion 
prevailed  to  the  eriect  that  if  such  could  be  brought 
about,  the  Conference  would  purchase  a  suitable 
location.  A  very  necessary  matter  was  looked  after 
at  this  session,  by  appointing  a  Committee  on  Home- 
steads and  Deeds,  to  examine  into  the  legal  status 
of  our  church  property.  Up  to  the  present  every- 
thing was  found  to  be  in  correct  form.  The  same 
committee  urged  upon  the  Conference  to  advise  those 
of  our  people  who  do  not  desire  to  remain  longer  in 
the  State  of  Georgia  to  go  to  Florida,  where  land 
then  could  be  easily  procured,  and  at  low  prices. 
There  were  10,000,000  acres  of  government  land  in 
that  State,  much  of  it  in  the  most  thrifty  portions, 
which  could  be  purchased  at  fifty  cents  per  acre. 
Immigration  thither  was  strongly  being  encouraged. 


28  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

Law  and  order,  of  which  there  was  a  "  plentiful 
lack  "  in  some  other  sections,  prevailed  there,  as  did 
a  general  kindly  sentiment  toward  immigrants  to  a 
larger  extent  than  in  any  other  Southern  State. 

The  writer  opposed  emigration  then  as  now,  be- 
lieving that  a  rolling  stone  gathers  no  moss,  but  had 
we  then  bought  farms  and  accumulated  property 
generally  in  Georgia,  our  financial  situation  would 
have  been  increased  far  above  what  it  is  said  to  be 
to-day — $20,000,000.* 

The  Committee  on  Missions  suggested,  for  the 
success  of  our  missionaries,  that  each  church  or 
Sabbath-school  form  a  Missionary  Society,  and  that 
a  proper,  efficient  traveling  missionary  be  appointed. 
At  the  same  time,  the  Committee  on  Church  Ex- 
tension impressed  the  Conference  with  the  necessity 
of  owning  commodious  buildings  if  the  work  of  en- 
lightening and  evangelizing  the  race  would  grow  as 
it  should. 

Two  brethren  had  died  during  the  year — Wesley 
Mappe  and  Daniel  Williams — each  on  his  field  of 
labor.  When  the  session  closed,  it  was  to  meet  in 
Atlanta  in  January  following. 

*Mr.  Henry  Grady  stated  this  to  be  the  amount  just  before  his  death. 
The  writer  would  not  paes  him  by  without  paying  a  tribute  of  respect. 
As  an  orator,  Georgia  has  probably  never  produced  his  superior,  His 
style  was  chaste  and  beautilul,  and  his  eloquence  upon  the  occasion  of  his 
great  prohibition  speech  was  deemed  by  the  writer  the  grandest  effort  to 
which  he  ever  listened.    Personally  he  was  the  writer's  friend. 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE    YEAES    OF   FEEEDOM.         29 


CHAPTER  V. 

GEORGIA,   1871-1872. 

Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  was  not  able  to  reach  the 
Conference  in  time  to  open  it  in  Atlanta,  January  14, 
187 1,  but  by  his  direction  through  a  telegram  the 
Conference  proceeded  to  business  after  being  opened, 
with  Rev.  A.  Brown,  Presiding  Elder,  in  the  chair. 
Rev.  T.  G.  Steward  was  appointed  Secretary,  with 
S.  H.  Roberton  as  assistant. 

A  long  list  was  admitted  on  trial,  and  when  the 
Conference  proceeded  to  the  election  of  deacons, 
the  following  were  elected :  Itinerants,  Isaac  Ham- 
ilton, John  Robinson,  Samuel  George,  James  Eth- 
eridge,  F.  P.  Evans,  Henry  Hutchinson,  Riley 
Covington,  Turner  Jones,  David  Williams,  Alfred 
Attoway,  Alfred  Sapp,  J.  M.  Cargile,  E.  P. 
Holmes,  George  Christburg,  Wm.  Abrahams,  La- 
Fayette  Wesley,  Geo.  Strickland,  James  Hilson. 
Local,  Augustus  Stroud,  Madison  Taylor,  Andrew 
Miller,  Herbert  Mathews,  Burrell  Halin,  Henry 
Holsey,  Henry  Warren,  Andrew  Lowe,  G.  H. 
Clower. 

We  had  with  us  at  this  Conference  Bishop  James 
A.  Shorter  and  Rev.  B.  T.  Tanner,  also  Henry  J. 
Young,     of     Philadelphia.     Rev.    B.    T.     Tanner 


30  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

preached  the  Ordination  Sermon  of  Deacons.  A 
beneficent  gift  was  presented  Conference,  through 
Rev.  Henry  Strickland,  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Marshall — a 
new  roof  to  the  church  in  process  of  erection  at 
Savannah,  in  value  more  than  $1,000.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  Rev.  A.  L.  Stanford  organized 
the  church  in  Savannah,  and  he  also  laid  the  base- 
ment of  the  church  edifice,  but  Rev  Henry  Strick- 
land deserves  the  credit  of  building  the  church,  and 
saving  our  congregation  in  that  city. 

Four  of  the  Georgia  Conference  have  fallen  under 
the  Reaper's  blade  this  year.  Nelson  Beacham, 
Fortune  Robinson,  Washington  Benjamin,  Eli  Kim- 
ball, and  suitable  respect  was  paid  to  their  mem- 
ories, Elder  H.  M.  Turner  delivering  the  sermon. 

The  matter  of  Conference  school  was  broached 
at  this  date,  but  it  assumed  no  definite  form.  It  was 
a  subject  requiring  consideration  and  deliberate  ar- 
rangements before  we  could  hope  to  make  other 
than  a  lamentable  failure.  It  was  wisdom  to  wait 
until  strength  sufficient  for  success  was  an  assured 
thing. 

Savannah,  Ga.,  was  the  place  decided  upon  for 
the  next  session,  as  it  was  intimated  that  the  re- 
ports of  the  Conferences  in  the  past  were  too  mea- 
ger in  details  to  give  a  correct  idea  of  Conference 
doings  ;  it  was  also  gently  hinted  that  the  Secre- 
taries in  the  future  might  be  more  copious  with  ad- 
vantage to  the  church.  The  hint  was  well  taken, 
as  it  seems,  and  acted  upon,  as  records  show. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  want  of  accurate  data 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.         31 

concerning  our  church  work,  as  a  whole,  is  largely 
due  to  the  brief,  and  often  unsatisfactory,  way  of 
writing  up  the  minutes  of  the  various  Conferences, 
and  that  the  history  of  our  church  must  lose  much 
of  interest,  and  thus  suffer  proportionally  by  loss, 
perhaps  of  moment,  by  too  great  brevity.  This  quality 
may  be  the  "  soul  of  wit,"  but  it  is  not  that  of  history, 
and  even  prolixity  may  be  better  endured  when  im- 
portant matters  are  before  us,  and  we  desire  positive 
and  complete  information  concerning  every  detail, 
such  as  only  full,  approved  minntes  can  give. 

Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  suggested  at  this  time  Geo. 
W.  H.  Williams,  J.  W.  Randolph  and  S.  H.  Robert- 
son as  proper  persons  for  Elders'  Orders,  and  they 
were  elected,  as  was  also  James  F.  A.  Sisson. 
After  discussion,  C.  R.  Edwards  was  also  included 
in  the  list,  which  comprised  the  following  brethren, 
when  the  ordinance  took  place  with  impressive  and 
solemn  exercises:  William  Lewis,  Patrick  Parks, 
Lacy  Beck,  Wm.  Pine,  G.  B.  Reed,  J.  W.  Ran- 
dolph, S.  Ross,  J.  W.  Ricks,  Branch  Davis,  S.  H. 
Robertson,  Daniel  Brown,  W.  H.  Harris,  G.  W.  H. 
Williams  and  J.  F.  A.  Sisson. 

An  interesting  discussion  was  held  upon  the  tem- 
perance question,  and  the  expression  of  a  sentiment 
in  favor  of  temperance  in  all  things,  the  discarding 
of  tobacco,  snuff,  cigars  and  all  intoxicants  was  in- 
dulged in  by  a  large  number.  The  filthiness  of  the 
habit,  as  well  as  its  injurious  effects,  physically  and 
morally,  were  dwelt  upon,  and   resolutions  placing 


32  AFKICAN    METHODISM    IN   THE    SOUTH. 

the  Conference  on  record  as  opposing  the  use  of  all 
these  were  reported  and  adopted  by  a  large  ma- 
jority. 

The  finances  were  helped  out  by  Rev.  H.  M„ 
Turner's  proposition  to  print  the  minutes  for  what 
he  might  receive  from  their  sale,  and  accepting  this, 
1,500  were  ordered  printed,  and  the  price  set  at  fif- 
teen cents  each.  The  Sabbath-school  Banner,  which 
had  been  promised  to  the  school  raising  the  most 
missionary  money,  was  awarded  to  the  Columbus 
Sunday-school,  as  it  came  forward,  through  Rev.  C. 
L.  Brad  well,  with  $100,  though  Savannah  followed 
closely,  through  Rev,  H.  Strickland,  with  $60. 

The  minister  who  should  be  stationed  at  Macon 
was  designated  as  the  District  Book  Steward,  and 
it  was  also  determined  upon  that  each  minister  be 
required  to  raise  one  collection  monthly,  for  the 
eight  collections  to  be  taken  up  during  the  year: 
the  Contingent,  Missionary,  Book  Concern,  Bishop's 
Support,  Superannuated  Bishops  and  Preachers* 
Widows  and  Orphans,  Deficiency  and  Wilberforce 
University,  and  that  no  preacher  be  permitted  to 
divide  any  one  of  these  collections  under  penalty  of 
being  silenced  for  six  months.  Bishop  Shorter  en- 
tered a  protest  with  reference  to  the  division  of  the 
money,  stating  that  the  Conference  violated  the  law 
governing  it.* 

The  cases  of  complaints  were  few  and  the  off  end- 


*Ihis  was  before  the  Dollar  money  system  was  adopted,  which  was  at 
Nashville,  in  1872. 


OK  TWENTY-FIVE   TEAKS   OF  FREEDOM.        33 

•ers  were  dismissed  with  a  reprimand,  or  referred 
back  to  their  Quarterly  Conference. 

It  was  decided  that  the  Electoral  College  meet  in 
Macon  the  coming  June — the  first  Thursday — to  be 
in  readiness  for  the  General  Conference  of  the  com- 
ing year. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education  was 
very  hopeful.  Schools  were  springing  up  in  differ- 
-ent  localities  all  over  the  State.  The  only  draw- 
back was  the  engaging  of  teachers  of  too  meager 
qualifications,  but  still  there  was  progress.  The 
committee  looked  to  the  future  in  recommending  a 
Theological  Seminary  within  the  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, that  our  young  men  might  be  properly  trained 
in  the  ministry,  so  we  see  the  trend  in  the  right  di- 
rection. The  ministers  were  strongly  advised,  how- 
ever, by  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  to  a  close  study  of  the 
course  laid  out  by  the  Conference  under  whatever 
guidance  they  might  find  possible.  Pending  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  school  within  our  own  denomina- 
tion, the  work  of  others  was  recommended,  and  at 
all  times,  the  common  schools  were  to  be  recog- 
nized as  one  means  of  uplifting  the  people.  We  had 
all  that  we  could  do  just  then  to  assist  the  mother 
college  of  our  church,  Wilberforce,  which  was 
brought  to  our  notice  again.  It  was  then  incomplete 
under  the  efforts  to  raise  it  from  the  ruins  in  which 
the  flames  had  enveloped  it  in  1865,  and  the  Confer- 
ence resolved  to  do  all  in  its  power  to  aid  this  uni- 


34  AFKICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

versity — the  only  one  then  owned  and  controlled  by- 
colored  men  on  the  American  continent. 

The  Georgia  Conference  this  year  took  steps  to 
organize  the  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society,. 
and  a  goodly  roll  of  members  was  made  up  by  the 
payment  of  $i  each.  The  South  was  still  in  the 
midst  of  financial  embarrassment,  but  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  Georgia  Conference  statistics  showed  a  de- 
cided improvement  financially  each  year.  Though 
the  people  were  poor  and  the  masses  yet  groping  for- 
the  light  of  knowledge,  it  was  not  an  altogether 
beggarly  people.  It  did  what  it  could  and  that  was 
much  for  the  times  and  under  the  circumstances. 
No  more  could  be  asked — no  more  could  be  ex- 
pected. 

It  was  on  January  5th,  1872,  that  the  Lord  allowed, 
us  to  reassemble  in  Savannah  to  transact  our  busi- 
ness. For  the  second  time  within  its  history  an  as- 
sembly of  colored  ministers  met  in  that  city.  Bishop 
Brown  presided  at  the  opening,  Rev.  J.  F.  A.  Sisson 
was  elected  Conference  Secretary;  J.  W.  Randolph, 
Statistical  Secretary;  and  F.  J.  Peck,  Recording 
Secretary.  The  Bishop  made  borne  most  pertinent 
remarks  upon  the  dilatory  attendance  of  the  mem- 
bers composing  the  body,  as  well  as  upon  their  be- 
havior at  Conference.  Among  other  things,  he  told 
them  not  to  stand  about  our  church  doors  and  the 
street  corners  smoking;  he  admonished  ihem  so  to 
dress  and  live  that  the)  should  be  attractive  to  our 
people  and  not  repulsive;  he  warned  them  not  to 
drink  wine  or  brandy,  and  told  them  to  avoid  giving 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.         35 

trouble  to  the  families  with  whom  they  might  stop, 
to  rise  early  from  their  beds,  be  kind  to  the  children, 
and  always  see  that  prayers  were  held  with  their 
host  and  family. 

These  remarks  apply  equally  well  to-day,  and  if 
faithfully  followed  out,  the  ministry  would  stand  upon 
a  higher  plane,  the  labor  of  entertainment  would  fall 
much  more  lightly  upon  our  people,  while  the  gen- 
eral good  which  would  result  would  be  incalculable. 

Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson  was  constituted  reporter 
for  the  Christian  Recorder,  and  the  writer  of  the 
Missionary  Record  published  in  Charleston.  The 
annual  sermon  this  year  was  preached  by  Rev.  C. 
L.  Brad  well.  The  ministers  were  urged  again  by 
the  agent  of  Wilberforce  University,  Elder  Young, 
to  assist  in  raising  endowment  money,  that  the  trus- 
tees might  comply  with  the  conditions  of  Mr.  Avery's 
will,  whereby  $10,000  would  be  secured  that  insti- 
tution for  its  completion.  The  will  was  read,  and 
ere  the  close  of  the  fourth  day's  session,  he  had  re- 
ceived $140  in  money,  pledges,  notes  and  dues. 
These  we  gave  of  our  little,  as  we  were  advised. 

The  visitors  to  Conference  included  some  mem- 
bers of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  the  Rev.  Elisha 
Hathaway,  of  Bristol,  R.  I.,  a  minister  of  the  Chris- 
tian Convention,  who  had  within  the  year  past  donat- 
ed $59,000  for  the  elevation  of  the  freedmen,  and 
he  encouraged  us  to  aid  all  good  work  by  his  state- 
ments. He  gave  a  short  sketch  of  his  life,  upon  be- 
ing introduced  to  Conference,  and  among  other 
things,  he  gave  us  this  to    consider:    that   he    had 


8(5  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

known  both  extreme  poverty  and  abundant  riches, 
and  that  he  felt  himself  constantly  made  spiritually 
and  financially  richer  by  giving  of  his  substance  to 
the  poor,  thereby  lending  to  the  Lord. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         37 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GENERAL  CONFERENCE  YEAR. 

Forty-eight  was  the  number  reported  by  the 
Committee  on  Admission  to  Conference  on  proba- 
tion. Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  made  the  remark  that 
it  was  the  largest  class  save  one  he  had  re- 
ceived since  he  had  been  made  Bishop.  It  was  a 
most  interesting  one,  as  it  was  composed  mostly  of 
voung  men.  The  Bishop  gave  them  some  sound 
advice  as  to  their  conduct,  ministerial  and  other- 
wise, which  is  as  applicable  to-day  as  it  has  ever 
been.  After  telling  them  to  stand  up  for  Jesus,  he 
warned  them  that  they  would  have  no  time  for 
mirth  and  folly.  "Be  prudent  among  women,"  said 
he,  "Confide  only  in  your  wife."  Upon  marriage, 
he  said,  "Get  for  a  wife  one  that  has  good  parents 
who  have  trained  their  daughter  well,  one  who  is 
willing  to  wash  your  clothes  and  scour  your  floor," 
and  to  the  class  personally  he  said,  "Avoid  affecta- 
tion and  the  wearing  of  finery  and  jewelry.  Be 
plain  even  in  dress  and  manners;  be  honest,  pay 
your  debts  and  pay  them  promptly." 

The  matter  of  Missionary  Agency  coming  up, 
the  writer  moved  a  resolution  in  favor  of  leaving 
that   office  vacant,  though  Conference  had  a  stand- 


38  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

ing  rule  to  the  effect  of  filling  it  by  appointment  of 
the  Bishop.  His  arguments  were  that  as  yet  noth- 
ing had  been  accomplished  save  to  make  an  indebt- 
edness by  each  Conference.  His  idea  was  the  same 
as  now — the  plan  at  present  followed  by  our  Church 
— to  make  each  pastor  raise  a  special  Missionary 
collection,  thus  avoiding  any  salaried  agent.  It  was 
opposed,  however,  and  by  vote  to  rescind,  the 
Bishop  was  left  to  appoint  the  Missionary  Agent  as 
heretofore. 

The  Book  Concern  report  gave  such  a  depressing 
view  of  its  financial  condition  that,  after  an  explan- 
atory speech  from  the  Bishop,  urging  liberal  con- 
tributions to  its  treasury,  a  movement  was  made  by 
the  writer  favoring  the  raising  as  much  as  $50 
weekly,  if  possible,  to  aid  in  publishing  the  Chris- 
tian Recorder  until  the  next  session  of  the  General 
Conference — seventeen  weeks  hence.  It  was 
learned  that  this  would  be  the  cost  of  publication 
per  week,  and  the  motion  prevailed  almost  unan- 
imously, there  being  but  one  dissenting  voice.  Be- 
lieving in  rapidly  striking  while  the  iron  was  hot, 
business  was  suspended  and  eleven  clubs  were 
formed  with  cash  ($140.25)  in  hand.  The  writer 
was  elected  Secretary  of  the  fund  and  C.  L.  Brad- 
well,  Treasurer,  and  the  money  was  paid  over  to 
H.  J.  Young,  the  Book  Concern  Agent,  and  receipt 
given. 

Again,  an  indeavor  was  made  looking  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  school  within  the  bounds  of  this 
Conference.     While  strong  speeches  were  made  in 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES    OF   FREEDOM.        39 

favor  of  the  education  of  the  ministry  by  Revs.  No- 
He,  Young,  Harris  and  others,  it  seemed  the  prev- 
alent opinion  that  for  the  present  Wilberforce  Uni- 
versity offered  all  advantages  required,  and  that  we 
were  not  yet  ready  for  giving  the  support  which  a 
second  college  or  institution  would  demand.  Nev- 
ertheless, a  motion  prevailed  to  take  steps  toward  a 
school,  with  the  words  "College"  and  "Branch  of 
Wilberforce  University"  stricken  from  the  original 
motion ;  and  it  was  finally  decided  that  a  committee 
of  five  select  a  site  for  such  a  school  as  desired, 
Presiding  Elders  forming  that  committee.  Under 
the  resolution  this  was  done,  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Wood 
was  made  Treasurer  of  the  School  Fund,  and  Rev. 
W.  J.  Gaines,  Secretary. 

Seventeen  brothers  were  offered  for  Deacon's  or- 
ders and  elected:  Jacob  Graham,  Eli  Erby,  Law- 
rence Thomas,  Nathan  Berry,  George  Landrum, 
Henry  Boyd,  G.  G.  Fleming,  Richard  Graham, 
Anthony  Brown,  Andrew  Wynn,  George  Davis, 
Jefferson  Gary,  Shadrach  L.  Mimms,  John  M.  Hen- 
derson, James  Porter,  John  B.  Butler,  George  T. 
Strickland.  Those  elected  to  Elder's  orders  were 
Henry  M.  Taylor,  Elijah  Pennyman,  James  Daley, 
C.  H.Fairfax,  H.  B.  Dowdell,  Warren  Shorts,  A.  B. 
Davis,  itinerants,  and  Daniel  J.  McGhee,  local. 
Henry  Daniels  was  left  without  an  appointment  for 
one  year;  also  George  Lumpkin,  John  McDougald 
and  L.  Matthews.  The  ordination  of  the  seventeen 
Deacons  took  place  under  the  Presiding  Bishop  at 
the  close    of    the    morning    sermon,  January  14th, 


40  AFEICAN  METHODISM  IN"  THE   SOUTH  ; 

while  the  Elders  were  ordained  in  the  afternoon^ 
One  brother  had  slipped  up  to  the  altar  during  the 
ceremony  of  ordination  of  Deacons,  and  had  re- 
ceived the  Bishop's  hands  upon  his  head,  but  he  un- 
fortunately called  for  his  certificate  later  and  this- 
fact  leaked  out. 

Wisely,  so  it  seemed  to  the  Conference,  the  mi- 
nority report  of  the  Committee  on  Third  Year  Studies 
was  adopted,  and  all  the  members  thereby  contin- 
ued in  that  class.  The  funeral  services  of  five  de- 
ceased brothers  were  carried  out  at  the  ninth  day's 
session  by  addresses  from  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner  and 
others.  This  was  followed  by  a  collection  for  the 
benefit  of  the  widows  of  the  deceased  brothers  and 
preachers. 

It  appeared  at  this  Conference  that  the  minutes  of 
the  Georgia  Conference,  up  to  this  date,  had  not  been 
properly  recorded,  and  a  resolution  passed  to  pay 
Rev.  F.  J.  Peck  thirty  dollars  to  do  this  work  up  to 
close  of  the  present  session. 

As  1 80  members  of  the  Georgia  Annual  Confer- 
ence, together  with  48  probationers,  were  reported 
by  the  Committee  on  General  Conference  Delegates,, 
it  was  entitled  to  send  26  delegates  to  represent  the 
members,  and  6  to  represent  the  probationers.  The 
election  which  then  took  place  resulted  as  follows: 

H.  M.  Turner,  W.J.  Gaines,  S.  B.  Jones,  Andrew 
Brown,  F.  J.  Peck,  Henry  Strickland,  Thos.  Crayton,. 
S.  W .  Drayton,  W.  H.  Noble,  J.  A.  Wood,  Wm.  Ra- 
ven, Robert  Anderson,  Henry  Porter,  Peter  McLainr 
Albert  McGhee,   Levi  Walker,   A.  J.   McDowell,. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         41 

Robert  Cromby,  R.  M.  Taylor,  S.  H.  Robertson, 
W.  H.  W.  Sherman,  J.  F.  A.  Sisson,  John  McDou- 
gald,  John  T.  Gibson,  G.  W.  H.  Williams,  Lawrence 
Wood,  Z.  Armstrong,  G.  P.  Brown,  Thomas  Gar- 
rett, Robet  Alexander,  C.  L.  Bradwell,  B.  K.  Brown. 
Aside  from  these,  the  Secretary  of  the  Electoral 
College  reported  the  election  of  two  lay  delegates 
to  represent  the  Conference:  G.  H.  Clower  and 
Lewis  Williams. 

Among  the  changes  made  this  year,  the  District 
Book  Steward  was  made  the  Treasurer  of  the  Con- 
ference, and  the  writer  was  made  District  Book 
Steward. 

In  the  line  of  the  effort  to  prepare  for  a  school  in 
the  State  of  Georgia,  an  effort  was  made  for  each 
pastor  to  bring  to  Conference,  next  year,  five  dollars 
for  educational  purposes,  and  the  preachers  were  to 
be  furnished  with  certificates  to  be  used  in  making 
such  collections.  The  sum  of  fifty-eight  dollars  and 
fifty-eight  cents  was  also  ordered  sent  to  the  Treas- 
urer of  Wilberforce  University. 

Looking  forward  to  their  preservation,  as  the 
literature  of  the  time,  all  authors  of  Conference  ser- 
mons before  the  sixth  session,  were  ordered  to  place 
their  manuscript  in  the  hands  of  Bishop  Brown,  who 
would  see  them  published  and  bound  with  the  min- 
utes. The  manuscript  of  J.  W.  Randolph's  Anthem 
and  Tune  Book  was  commended  to  the  General 
Conference  for  its  examination  and  hoped-for  ap- 
proval. 

The  Domestic  University  Society  held  its  meeting, 
through  a  suspension  of  regular  work,  and  made  a 


42  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

most  favorable  show  of  work.  It  had  a  total  in 
bank  of  $185.92,  and  collected  at  this  session  an  ag- 
gregate of  $53.  A  re-election  of  officers  made  Rev. 
H.  M,  Turner,  President;  C.  L.  Bradwell,  J.  A. 
Wood  and  W.  J.  Gaines,  respectively,  first,  second 
and  third  Vice-Presidents  ;  J.  F.  A.  Sisson,  Secre- 
tary; Henry  Strickland,  Treasurer  ;  J.  W.  Ran- 
dolph, Recording  Secretary.  A  short  meeting  of 
the  Preachers'  Aid  Society  followed  this  meeting, 
when  the  regular  business  of  the  Conference  was 
resumed. 

A  pleasant  feature  of  the  session  was  the  recog- 
nition of  the  services  of  our  beloved  Bishop,  J.  M. 
Brown,  who  had  been  with  us  for  four  years,  and 
according  to  our  church  economy,  would  sever  his 
direct  connection  with  the  Episcopal  District  of 
which  Georgia  formed  a  part,  with  this  session,  or 
rather,  after  the  meeting  of  the  General  Conference 
in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  on  the  first  Monday  in  the  fol- 
lowing May.  The  Conference,  therefore,  decided 
to  testify  to  its  appreciation  of  his  work  with  us  by 
the  presentation  of  a  copy  of  Webster's  Unabridged 
Dictionary  to  him,  and  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner,  C.  L. 
Bradwell  and  the  writer  were  appointed  to  execute 
the  will  of  the  Conference,  which  was  carried  out  at 
the  next  session. 

When  the  question  was  asked  which  Sunday- 
school  should  keep  the  Annual  Conference  S.  S. 
banner  during  the  ensuing  year,  the  answer  came 
promptly  from  Americus,  Ga.,  representatives, 
which  school,  through  Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell,  pastor, 


OK  TWENTY-FIVE   TEAES    OF   FREEDOM.         43 

reported  thirty-six  dollars  and  seventy-six  pupils. 
As  it  was  to  be  awarded  to  the  Sunday-school  send- 
ing the  largest  Missionary  collection  to  Conference 
this  session,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils, 
this  school  held  it  until  the  next  session. 

The  sermons  for  the  next  year  were  appointed  as 
follows:  Annual  Conference  Sermon,  Rev.  R.  An- 
derson; Annual  Anniversary  Sermon,  Rev.  W.J. 
Gaines;  the  Doctrinal  Sermon  by  Rev.  W.  H.  No- 
ble, and  the  Ministerial  Education  Sermon  by  Rev. 
James  F.  A.  Sisson. 

Elder  H.  M.  Turner  requested  the  Bishop  and 
Conference  to  allow  him  to  retire  from  the  office 
and  work  of  Presiding  Elder.  He  desired  rest  and 
opportunities  for  study,  composition,  and  the  practi- 
cal duties  of  the  pastorate  without  distracting  cares 
outside  of  the  course  he  had  marked  out.  The  ad- 
dress that  he  delivered  after  this,  as  a  valedictory, 
was  of  historic  value  to  the  A.  M.  E.  church,  and  of 
general  interest. 

Scarcely  a  report  of  this  Conference  was  presented 
which  was  not  full  of  interest.  The  one  upon  De- 
nominations was  especially  powerful,  as  it  breathed 
a  spirit  of  Christian  brotherhood,  which  alone  can 
unite  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth  under  the  one 
Kingdom  of  His  Son.  A  growing  feeling  of  fra- 
ternity was  shown  by  it  to  be  prevailing  upon  the 
part  of  all  denominations,  especially  in  the  South. 
We  quote  from  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  State 
of  the  Country  that  which  is  true,  and  which  alone 
will  bring  about  amity  and  peace:     "With   a  free 


44  AFRICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

press,  freedom  of  speech,  and  freedom  of  educa- 
tional advantages  and  religious  privileges,  applicable 
to  all  alike,  without  reference  to  '  race ,  color  or  pre- 
vious condition,'  then  will  each  bosom  thrill  with 
rapturous  joy." 


OK  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        45 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GEORGIA,   1873. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  eleventh  of  January,  1873, 
the  Conference  found  itself  at  Macon,  Ga.,  with 
Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  as  the  Presiding  Bishop. 
Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  accompanied  him  as  Assistant 
Bishop.  Thus  General  Conference  had  given  us 
another  strong  worker  for  the  South.  We  also 
received  an  addition  to  our  ministerial  ranks,  by  the 
transfer  of  Rev.  George  Washington,  of  Alabama, 
and  Rev.  W.  D.  Johnson,  of  Florida,  while  we  lost 
Rev.  Lawrence  Wood,  who  took  a  transfer  to  South 
Carolina,  and  Rev.  J.  F.  A.  Sisson,  who  went  to  the 
Arkansas  Conference. 

The  Secretaryship  was  immediately  placed  upon 
the  shoulders  of  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  and  Rev. 
J.  W.  Randolph  was  made  Statistical  Secretary, 
with  Rev.  F.  J.  Peek,  Recording  Secretary. 

The  General  Conference  of  1872  had  condemned 
the  wearing  of  Episcopal  robes  in  strong  terms, 
but,  as  in  all  such  matters,  there  was  diversity  of 
opinion,  and  the  question  was  again  raised  here  by 
Rev.  Dr.  H.  M.  Turner;  finally  a  movement  was 
made  to  purchase  and  present  a  robe  to  the  Pre- 
siding Bishop,  but  was  lost. 


46  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IE"  THE   SOUTH  ; 

Thirty-seven  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial  r 
John  Flintroy,  D.  T.  Green,  Andrew  Bigham,  L.  S. 
Smith,  Augustus  Jones,  Augustus  Stroud,  War. 
Lee,  Hamilton  Spann,  Minor  Lewis,  J.  B.  Davis, 
Lewis  Tyson,  Anthony  Johnson,  I.  N.  Fitzpatrick, 
G.  G.  Fleming,  Charles  Green,  David  Green,  Wil- 
son Williams,  Frank  Johnson,  Augustus  Scott, 
Green  Decatur,  J.  A.  Brown,  Jefferson  Cary, 
George  Parks,  Albert  Pearce,  Burrell  Mitchell,  A. 
J.  Miller,  J.  H.  Brown,  Prince  Gadsen,  Isaac 
Coachman,  Wm.  Askew,  Harris  Powell,  Peter 
Williams,  George  Bass,  Clabron  Randall,  Burrell 
Davis,  Irwin  Butler,  Eldridge  Reed.  An  equally 
long  list  remained  on    trial. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  Conference  was  shocked 
by  the  information  that  Bishop  Wm.  Paul  Quinn 
was  lying  very  low  at  his  home  in  Richmond,  Ind. 
As  it  soon  appeared,  it  was  the  hand  of  death  indeed, 
which  had  been  laid  upon  him,  against  which  no 
mortal  can  successfully  struggle,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing month  of  February  our  beloved  senior  suc- 
cumbed, and  entered  upon  eternal  rest  and  heavenly 
reward.  His  was  the  first  death  in  the  Bishopric 
of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  since  1848,  when  Bishop 
Morris  Brown  was  called  hence.  With  his  death, 
Bishop  D.  A.  Payne  passed  to  the  Seniority — a  po- 
sition he  fills  to  the  present,  crowned  with  gray 
hairs  and  an  honorable  career  of  usefulness. 

Our  ranks  have  been  visited  by  the  same  dark  an- 
gel, and  Thomas  Ball,  Adam  Bruton  and  Edmond 
L.  Bailey  were  the  ones  to  obey  the  call,     The  me- 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.  47 

morial  sermons  were  preached  by  Dr.  H.  M.  Tur- 
ner and  Rev.  Branch  Davis. 

The  ordination  of  Elders  and  Deacons  began  on 
the  Sabbath  day  (January  19th),  with  a  sermon  by 
Rev.  S.  W.  Drayton  to  the  deacons  in  the  morning, 
followed  in  the  afternoon  by  Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell 
to  the  Elc'ers,  in  which  the  latter  eloquently  de- 
clared the  awful  responsibility,  and  high  dignity  of 
the  office,  moving  many  to  tears. 

The  Elders  ordained  were:  W.  H.  Harris,  E. 
P.  Holmes,  J.  M.  Cargile,  Haley  Hardy,  Semenson 
Gardener,  James  ^Porter,  D.  J.  McGhee,  Paton 
Stokes,  J.  Parks,'  A.  J.  Miller,  A.  M.  Wright,  J. 
Hamilton,  H.  Lester,  C.  B.  Edwards,  J.  McGhee, 
T.  S.  Smith,  H.  H.  Holoway,  G.  H.  Hood,  Jesse 
Durkins,  M.  Millard,  L.  Davis,  A.  Dunwoodie,  A. 
Attaway,  C.  H.  Rice,  C.  R.  Edwards,  G.  C.  Christ- 
burg,  A.  Lowe,  D.  Hamilton,  A.  Perkins,  L. 
Thomas.  The  deacons  were:  Charles  Wilson,  Wm. 
Americus,  Jefferson  Carey,  C.  Hamilton,  I.  B.  Da- 
vis, E.  A.  Shepherd,  P.  Matin,  A.  Pace,  B.  Mimms, 
M.  Lewis,  B.  Mitchell,  L.  Smith,  J.  B.  McCoy,  J. 
Waters,  J.  Watson,  M.  O.  Bodie,  J.  Whittaker,  L. 
Cooper,  J.  Brown,  C.  McDowell,  P.  Gadsen,  A. 
Bigham,  Wilson  Williams,  Irwin  Butler,  Green  Per- 
son, Mark  Cox,  Randall  Fulson,  Charles  Warren, 
Alexander  Price,  Wm.  Flagg,  John  Joshua,  Edward 
Thomas,  Burrell  Davis. 

Our  visitors  were  Prof.  W.  D.  Williams,  of  the 
Blind  Asylum, of  Macon;  Rev.  E.  E.  Rogers,  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  and   Rev.  G.  H.  Eaton,   of 


48  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE    SOUTH  ; 

Savannah,  with  Rev.  Robert  Brown,  of  the  Col- 
ored M.  E.  Church  of  America. 

When  the  committees  reported,  the  exodus  to  Ar- 
kansas through  paid  agents,  employed  to  deceive 
and  mislead,  was  vigorously  condemned,  and  the 
prophecy  made  that  Georgia  was  destined  to  be  a 
great  and  thrifty  State,  despite  all  true  reports  of  the 
greatness  of  the  former  State,  and  one  fitted  to 
maintain  its  people  in  greater  comfort.  Experi- 
ence has  proved  what  sober  reflection  at  the  time 
should  have  proved.  Many  of  those  who  sold 
themselves,  as  it  were,  for  their  passage  money 
have  to  regret  the  hasty  step  most  bitterly.  But  it 
was  the  report  upon  division  of  Conference  which 
created  the  most  interest. 

The  Georgia  Conference  had  become  unwieldy, 
over  two  hundred  and  sixty  members  being  enrolled 
at  this  date.  It  was  a  difficult  task,  amounting  almost 
to  an  impossibility,  for  the  presiding  officer  to  have 
entire  control  of  such  a  number,  with  due  regard  to 
the  advance  of  the  best  interests  of  the  Church. 
One  other  argument  had  its  weight  as  well.  The 
people  at  that  date  had  not  reached  that  degree  of 
prosperity  which  enables  them  now  to  entertain 
large  church  bodies  in  those  larger  cities.  It  was  a 
severe  tax  upon  the  Church  still  struggling  with 
poverty  and  ignorance;  and  what  causes  thoughtful 
ones  among  us  even  now  to  hesitate  long  before  lo- 
cating Conferences,  especially  the  General  Confer- 
ence, was  not  to  be  ignored  at  that  time  in  our  his- 
tory, when  locating  the  Annual  Conference.     The 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.        49 

time  necessarily  taken  to  transact  the  business  of 
Conference  was  a  long  time  to  be  a  burden  to  a 
poor  people,  therefore  the  question  was  brought 
*ip  as  to  a  division.  A  committee  was  appointed 
upon  the  matter,  consisting  of  the  following :  Elder 
H.  M.  Turner,  Revs.  W.  J.  Gaines,  Andrew  Brown, 
C.  L.  Bradwell,  Henry  Strickland,  S.  B.  Jones, 
Scipio  Robertson,  F.  J.  Peck,  Peter  McLain,  S.  W. 
Drayton,  W.  H.  Noble,  W.  H.  Harris, Henry  Porter. 

A  majority  and  a  minority  report  were  brought 
in.  As  motions  to  lay  the  latter  upon  the  table,  also 
to  adopt  it,  were  both  lost,  the  majority  was  adopted. 
The  committee  had  taken  into  consideration  all  these 
■difficulties  mentioned,  and  it  recommended  the  divi- 
sion into  two  bodies,  to  be  called  the  North  Georgia 
■Conference  and  the  South  Georgia  Conference.* 

The  former  was  to  embrace  all  the  territory  north 
•of  Macon,  both  east  and  west;  the  latter  all  south 
of  the  same  point,  also  east  and  west.  It  was  also 
recommended  that  the  South  Georgia  holds  its  next 
session  in  Thomasville,  Georgia,  and  the  North 
-Georgia  in  Augusta. 

For  six  years  we  had  been  linked  together  as  a 
whole  under  the  name  of  Georgia  Conference.  It 
was  with  regret  that  we  saw  the  separation  because 
•of  the  memoirs  of  these  years,  but  it  was  with  joy 
■that  we  looked  over  the  field  and  saw  the  progress, 


*The  South  Georgia  Conference  dropped  the  prefix  "  South  "  after  a  time, 
.and  was  known,  as  now,  as  the  "  Georgia  Conference."    This  served  also  to 
•distinguish  bet'er  the  older  Conference. 
4 


50  AFRICAN  METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

the  expansion,  the  growth  in  every  way,  which  had 
demanded  such  a  separation.  With  this  in  our 
hearts  we  could  but  look  forward  to  the  sessions  of 
the  two  new  bodies  with  gladness,  and  prepare  for 
the  change  which  placed  the  writer  in  the  North 
Georgia  Conference  at  Macon  Station. 

We  note  the  changes  in  districts,  circuits,  etc.,  this 
year  because  of  this  decision.  The  Macon  District 
was  changed,  to  consist  of  Macon  Station,  Columbus 
Station,  St.  Johns's  Chapel,  Pitt's  Chapel,  Talberton 
Circuit,  Fort  Valley  Circuit,  Perry  Circuit,  Haw- 
kinsville  Circuit,  Prattburg  Circuit,  Box  Springs, 
Reynolds,  Eastman,  Chattahooche  County  Circuit; 
Harris  County  Circuit,  Columbus  Mission;  Howard 
Circuit,  Bibb  County  Circuit.  Atlanta  District  suf- 
fered no  change  excepting  in  the  loss  of  Jones 
County,  Jasper  County  and  Monticello  Circuit  being 
added  to  the  new  District,  Forsyth,  which  also  in- 
cluded Forsyth  Station,  Clinton  Station,  Sugar 
Hill  Circuit,  Crawford  County  Circuit,  Coleman 
Chapel,  Indian  Springs  Circuit,  Whitesville  Circuit 
and  Zion  Mission.  Marietta  District  remained  the 
same,  excepting  Indian  Springs,  including  all  the 
West  Point  Railroad.  Augusta  District  was  left 
intact,  as  well  as  the  Savannah  District.  Red  Cir- 
cuit only  was  taken  from  Cuthbert  District  and 
added  to  Americus  District,  which  was  further  en- 
larged by  the  addition  of  Oglethorpe,  Ellaville, 
Buena  Vista  and  Red  Hill  Circuit.  To  Sandersville 
District  was  given  all  the  new  work  that  might  be 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        51 

added.  La  Grange  District  was  also  untouched. 
Upon  the  division  of  Conference,  the  Atlanta,  Au- 
gusta,Marietta,  Macon  and  LaGrange  Districts  were 
placed  within  the  bounds  of  the  North  Georgia 
Conference. 


52  AFKICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    NEW    WORK. 

With  the  opening  of  the  year  1874,  the  A-  M-  E- 
Church  in  Georgia  entered  upon  its  new  work  of 
conducting  the  deliberations  of  the  two  Conference 
bodies  instead  of  one.  The  North  Georgia  Confer- 
ence was  the  first  to  assemble.  Bishop  T.  M.  D. 
Ward  opened  the  first  session  of  this  body,  in  the  city 
of  Augusta,  upon  the  8th  of  January.  His  opening 
remarks  were  most  opportune  and  well  received, 
though  some  objected  to  the  statement  that  the  di- 
vision of  the  old  Georgia  Conference  had  passed  into 
history.  This  objection  must  have  been  made  upon 
the  ground  that  the  Georgia  Conference,  as  a  sepa- 
rate body,  had  as  yet  held  no  session,  while  the  North 
Georgia  was  but  opened. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  work  of  final  division  went 
on,  such  as  definitely  settling  the  boundary  lines  be- 
tween the  two,  which  work  was  assigned  to  a  com- 
mittee of  fifteen,  after  the  election  of  a  Conference 
Secretary  in  the  person  of  Rev.  W.  D.  Johnson,  J. 
M.  Cargile  being  appointed  Statistical  Secretary. 
This  committee  consisted  of  Dr.  H.  M .  Turner,  Revs. 
W.  J.  Gaines,  J.  A.  Wood,  William  Raven,  H.  H. 
Taylor,  John  Ricks,  Augustus  Gonickie,  S.  H.Rob- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS   OF  FREEDOM.  53 

ertson,  E.  P.  Holmes,  S.  B.  Jones,  W.  H.  Harris, 
W.  D.  Johnson,  Andrew  Brown,  Robert  Cromley, 
Daniel  Brown,  Robert  Anderson,  Lawrence  Thomas 
and  W.  H.  Noble.  In  brief,  the  boundary  was  laid  off 
as  follows,  and  the  report  of  the  committee  adopted: 
"Commencing  at  the  Chattahoochee  river,  the 
following  counties  and  all  north  of  them,  to  constitute 
the  North  Georgia  Conference — Harris,  Meriwether, 
Upson,  Monroe,  Jones,  Baldwin,  Hancock,  War- 
ren, McDuffie  and  Richmond;  the  following,  and  all 
south  of  them,  to  constitute  the  South  Georgia  Con- 
ference— Muscogee,  Talbot,  Taylor,  Crawford,  Bibb, 
(except  Macon  station,  which  was  included  in  the 
North  Georgia  work)  Wilkinson,  Washington, 
Glascock,  Jefferson  and  Burke."  This,  as  we  said 
in  our  last  chapter,  gave  to  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference the  Atlanta,  Marietta,  Macon,  Augusta  and 
LaGrange  districts,  leaving  Cuthbert,  Sandersville, 
Valdosta,  Americus  and  Savannah  districts  in  the 
South  Georgia  work. 

The  following  persons  were  sent  before  the  com- 
mittee on  admission:  Joshua  Brown,  Perry  Simon, 
J.  B.  Lofton,  William  Stansel,  Alfred  Floyd,  George 
Chapel,  Willis  Covington,  Handy  West  and  Albert 
Gaines. 

Bishop  S.  H.  Holsey,  of  the  Colored  M.  E.  Church 
of  America,  was  introduced  to  Conference,  and  spoke 
words  of  congratulation  upon  our  success.  He  spoke 
of  the  tendency  of  all  Christian  bodies  to  unite,  and 
the  strength  that  would  result  from  union  in  Meth- 
odism, especially  in  the  colored   churches.     In    the 


54  AFEICAN   METHODISM  IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

response  which  was  made  by  Dr.  H.  M.  Turner,  the 
statement  was  acquiesced  in,  and  the  declaration 
made  that  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church- 
the  church  organized  by  Richard  Allen  and  others 
— was  the  first  step  made  by  colored  men  toward 
the  equal  rights  mentioned  by  all,  and  it  was  "like 
stone  cut  out  without  hands — a  rolling  power  that 
had  scattered  hallowed  fire  wherever  it  has  penetra- 
ted." Have  not  the  years  established  the  truth  of 
this? 

Although  the  state  of  education  was  encouraging 
in  view  of  the  hopeful  outlook  from  Wilberforce 
University,  which  reported  three  hundred  students, 
and  that  the  committee  stated  the  desire  expressed 
upon  the  part  of  the  Public  School  Boards  in  a  num- 
ber of  localities,  to  open  more  schools  for  the  colored 
children,  yet  it  seemed  best,  notwithstanding  this,  to 
look  now  to  our  own  denominational  school  work  in 
the  South  with  a  critical  eye  upon  what  was  sorely 
needed,  as  we  were  pressed  for  properly  qualified 
ministers  for  our  increasing  fields  of  labor.  In  view 
of  this  a  motion  was  put  on  foot  looking  to  the  joint 
efforts  of  the  two  Conferences  in  raising  up  an  insti- 
tution of  learning  in  our  midst,  that  should  be  an 
honor  to  our  church  and  to  the  race.  A  convention 
to  consider  the  matter  was  appointed  at  Thomas- 
ville,  Ga.,  January  22d,  the  date  of  the  coming  first 
session  of  the  South  Georgia  Annual  Conference  as 
a  separate  body. 

It  was  at  this  place  that  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward 
opened  this  Conference,  at  the  appointed  date,  and 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAKS   OF   FREEDOM.        55 

this  Convention  met  and  deliberated  upon  an  "  Insti- 
tution of  Higher  Learning,"  and  appointed  its  Trus- 
tees to  act  upon  the  same — seven  from  the  North 
Georgia  and  eight  from  the  South  Georgia  Con- 
ference. 

Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson  was  made  Secretary  and 
Rev.  Francis  J.  Peck  Statistical  Secretary  of  this 
Conference  at  this  session,  and  it  proceeded  to  the 
business  of  announcing  transfers:  Revs.  J.  M.  Car- 
gile,  Andrew  Brown  and  F.  J.  Peck  took  transfers 
to  the  North  Georgia  work,  while  Revs.  W.  J. 
Gaines,  C.  L.  Bradwell,  Wm.  Raven,  Rev.  Wm. 
Bradwell,  of  Florida,  and  Godfrey  B.  Taylor,  of 
Alabama,  were  transferred  to  this  Conference.  The 
action  of  the  joint  committee  dividing  the  Confer- 
ence was  brought  up  for  ratification,  but  by  motion 
of  Dr.  H.  M.  Turner,  it  was  indefinitely  postponed. 
This  motion,  however,  was  ruled  out  of  order  by 
Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  who  decided  that  the  separa- 
tion of  the  Conferences  was  settled  in  Macon  in 
1873.  Upon  this,  Dr.  Turner  stated  his  intention  to 
appeal  to  the  next  General  Conference,  as  he  wished 
Macon  struck  from  the  South  Georgia  list. 

Rev.  Andrew  Brown  preached  an  able  sermon 
the  evening  of  the  first  day  from  the  text,  Ex.  iv.  1 ; 
"  And  Moses  answered  and  said,  but  behold,  they 
will  not  believe  me."  Henry  Boyd,  Richard  Gra- 
ham, David  Williams  and  George  Gamble  were 
elected  and  ordained  as  elders,  while  eleven  re- 
ceived deacon's  orders:  Andrew  Jackson,  Benjamin 
F.  Franklin,  H.  P.  Powell,  Augustus  Scott,  Wm. 


56  AFEICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

Askew,  Isaac  Stewart,  B.  W.  Wilson,  Isaac  Coach- 
man, David  T.  Green,  George  Bass,  James  Ricks. 
The  ordination  vows  were  also  administered  to  Rev. 
T.  N.  Stewart  and  A.  R.  Spencer,  elders  from  the 
colored  M.  E.  Church  of  America.  These  latter 
had  been  fitted  for  this  office  by  their  previous  train- 
ing. At  the  same  time  these  two,  with  Wesley  C. 
Gaines,  G.  H.  Washington,  S.  M.  Clark,  B.  W. 
Wilson,  G.J.  Jordan,  B.  F.  Franklin,  Isaac  Stewart, 
Andrew  Jackson,  AJ.  Johnson  and  Andrew  Monroe,, 
formed  the  class  admitted  on  trial. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  the  Conference  that  it  re- 
ceived a  most  cordial  welcome  from  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city,  white  and  colored,  so  far  exceeding  any 
heretofore,  that  it  felt  constrained  to  recognize  it  by 
proper  thanks.  African  Methodism  had  accom- 
plished the  task  of  commanding  respect  for  it, 
though  its  adherents  were  of  the  Negro  race. 

This  Conference  body  received  the  glad  news 
that  Hon.  Mr.  Haynes,  of  Pottsville,  Pa.,  having 
donated  five  hundred  dollars  to  our  Southern  work,, 
fifty  of  that  sum  would  come  to  each  of  the  two- 
Georgia  Conferences. 

With  this  session  we  closed  the  Conference  year,, 
and  with  the  coming  year  we  reached  the  first  dec- 
ade of  what  might  be  called  our  Southern  work,, 
beginning  as  it  did  in  Charleston  upon  the  15th  of 
May,  1865. 

The  North  Georgia  Conference  at  Athens,  Ga., 
opened  the  ensuing  year's  work,  with  its  second  ses- 
sion held  in  "Pierce's  Chapel,"  January  17th,  Bishop 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        57 

Ward  presiding,  and  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  Secre- 
tary, with  Richard  Harper,  as  assistant.  It  was  not 
a  busy  session,  and  closed  on  the  fifth  day.  The 
date  for  convening  was  changed  to  the  month  of 
December,  and  some  changes  were  made  in  the 
Districts. 

J.  H.  M.  Durand,  W.  A.  Pearce,  H.  Cargile, 
Washington  Campbell,  R.  W.  Mitchell,  B.  Johnson, 
Sandy  Luster,  J.  L.  Smith,  Richard  Harper,  A. 
Williams,  H.  D.  Bush,  S.  A.  Bush,  were  admitted 
on  trial.  Alexander  Price,  M.  O.  Boddie,  L.  H. 
Smith,  John  Whittaker,  Turner  Jones,  Jefferson 
Cary,  Jr.,  E.  A.  Shephard,  Burrell  Mitchell,  were 
made  elders,  and  the  deacons  who  were  elected 
and  ordained,  were:  Richard  Harper,  David  T. 
Green,  George  Chapell,  Wm.  Lee,  J.  H.  M.  Brown, 
C.  H.  Green,  Augustus  Jones,  J.  F.  Brown.  The 
transfers  made  were,  Rev.  W.  H.  Jackson,  from  the 
Tennessee  Conference,  and  Henry  Porter,  E.  P. 
Holmes,  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  S.  L.  Mimms,  J.  M. 
Cargile,  to  the  South  Georgia,  with  Martin  Wright 
to  the  Mississippi  work. 

Thomas  K.  Brown  and  Johnson  Parks  were  on 
the  death  roll  this  year.  The  former  closed  his 
career  at  the  age  of  ninety- three,  after  seventy  years 
of  labor,  and  yet  was  a  man  of  remarkable  vigor  at 
time  of  his  death. 

On  January  21st,  1875,  the  second  session,  or 
rather  the  the  ninth  session,  of  the  mother  Confer- 
ence, convened  in  the  courthouse  at  Albany,  Ga., 
and  was  opened  by  Bishop  Ward,  who  read  Isaiah 


58  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

xxxv.  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson  was  conveniently 
present  to  accept  and  faithfully  discharge  the  duties 
of  Secretary,  with  J.  M.  Cargill,  his  assistant. 

The  announcement  of  transfers  showed  that  Henry 
Porter,  J.  M.  Cargile,  W.  D.Johnson,  S.  L.  Mimms, 
G.  H.  Neely,  J.  J.  Bowman  had  come  from  the 
North  Georgia,  and  that  Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson  and 
H.  B.  Dowdell  were  transferred  to  the  North  Geor- 
gia Conference.  The  interest  of  the  people  was 
made  manifest  by  small  gifts  of  money  from  various 
sources;  especially  pleasing  in  one  instance,  in  the 
shape  of  one  acre  of  land  for  church  purposes,  do- 
nated by  Hon.  John  Hall.  A  number  of  visitors 
also  attested  their  Christian  fellowship  and  good-will 
by  their  presence  and  cheering  words.  Death  had 
visited  the  work  and  taken  away  Revs.  Zachariah 
Armstrong  and  Hamilton  Spann.  The  death  of 
these,  with  that  of  Father  Thomas  K.  Brown,  who, 
all  felt,  belonged  to  the  whole  of  Georgia,  irrespec- 
tive of  the  division,  was  fittingly  commemorated 
with  special  services. 

A.  J.  Johnson,  H.  W.  Whitaker,  Samuel  J. 
Thomas,  J.  R.  Thornton,  D.  O.  Alexander,  L.  R. 
Smith,  Jasper  Maxwell,  Morgan  Smith,  Daniel  Dun- 
can, Wilson  Williams,  Anthony  Rousseau.  W.  H. 
Hammond,  Henderson  Bowen,  J.  F.  Campfield, 
Kelly  Moses,  Robert  Hamilton,  George  Holt,  A. 
Randolph, B.  F.  Brazell, Scott  Devereaux  were  admit- 
ted into  the  itinerant  ranks;  and  Andrew  Monroe, 
Alfred  Dunlap,  Benjamin  Simmons,  Stephen  Gadsen, 
Samuel  Wright,  Henry  Williams  and  Prince  Irwin, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.        59 

were  admitted  as  local  preachers.  Irwin  Butler 
Clayborn  Randall,  J.  A.  Brown,  Andrew  Bigham, 
George  Bass,  Augustus  Scott,  H.  P.  Powell,  P.  W. 
Williams,  William  Askew,  Isaac  Coachman,  David 
T.  Green,  were  admitted  into  full  connection.  The 
elders  of  this  year,  elected  and  ordained,  were  Irwin 
Butler,  Prince  Gadsen,  Gabriel  Clark,  Pineo  Mar- 
tin, E.  R.  Erby,  Caleb  McDowell;  while  the  list  of 
Deacons  ordained  comprised  Giles  Jordan,  P.  W. 
Williams,  Andrew  Monroe,  Henry  Williams. 

The  Sunday-school  work  was  made  a  matter 
calling  for  clear  consideration,  and  a  set  of  rules  was 
recommended  as  an  order  of  exercises.  Something 
of  the  kind  seemed  to  be  needed,  as  the  ministers 
were  not  as  observant  of  all  things  pertaining  to  its 
interest  as  the  future  welfare  of  the  church  de- 
manded. Proper  persons  were  especially  needed  to 
look  after  the  details  of  the  work,  and  this  body  felt 
moved  to  urge  it  upon  all  present  to  do  their  full 
duty  in  this  respect  under  penalty  of  censure,  sus- 
pension or  any  punishment  which  in  the  opinion  of 
the  Conference  seemed  advisable. 

Upon  the  Sunday-schools  and  general  education 
much  depends.  The  church  that  neglects  either 
must  expect  to  suffer  the  consequences  in  diminish- 
ing numbers  and  disintegration.  There  have  been 
many  Sunday-schools  established  by  the  Missionary 
churches  of  other  denominations  throughout  the 
South,  in  which  schools  our  children  have  been 
reared,  as  we  may  say,  with  the  result,  in  by  far  the 
great    majority   of  such  cases,    of    attaching  them- 


60  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

selves  to  the  church  which  thus  fostered  them. 
Each  church  may  expect  this  outcome.  The  Sun- 
day-school becomes  a  family,  with  strong  family  re- 
lations and  ties.  It  is  but  a  step — and  a  natural  one 
at  that — to  ally  oneself  to  this  family  by  Church 
Bonds;  so  that  wisdom  calls  for  every  church  that 
would  retain  its  children  and  youth  for  its  service, 
to  make  its  own  Sunday-school  relations  so  strong, 
so  sacred,  so  attractive,  that  no  mere  inclination  will 
lead  these  away  from  its  fold,  for  inclination  is 
largely  the  reason  given  for  the  abandonment  of  the 
church  of  their  fathers  and  mothers.  But  it  must 
be  remembered  that  in  but  few  cases  is  this  inclina- 
tion superinduced  by  any  of  the  theological  reasons, 
but  by  those  things  that  appeal  so  directly  to  the 
young,  and  seem  to  satisfy  their  craving  desires, 
the  desires  of  the  most  intellectual  and  refined  spirits. 
These  things  are  good  teachers,  possessed  of 
winning  manners,  good  moral  character,  and  an  en- 
thusiasm for  souls,  managed  with  that  discretion  the 
young  demand.  To  these  then  must  be  added  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  ability  which 
comes  from  natural  talent  and  experience,  to  make 
all  things  clear  that  belongs  to  man  to  know.  This 
has  been  felt  from  the  first  by  those  whose  minds 
were  groping  in  the  darkness  for  the  full  light  that 
rests  in  God's  Word.  The  A.  M.  E.  Church  to-day 
is  awakening  to  that  fact.  Its  Sunday-schools  are  be- 
ing made  centers,  closed  in  by  the  church  instead  of 
assemblies,  upon  its  circumference,  as  it  were,  ready 
to  drop  off  at  every  jolt   or  show  of  neglect   from. 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FEEEDO^I.         61 

those  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  keep  careful  watch 
over  them. 

Education  received  an  impetus  in  the  vigorous 
report  its  committee  presented.  The  theological 
training  in  our  own  schools  was  recommended  first 
of  all,  if  possible.  Wilberf orce  was  ready  and  com- 
petent to  receive  and  instruct  all  who  might  seek 
her  walls  ;  but  it  was  recognized  that  pecuniary 
lack  made  it  impossible  for  many  to  leave  the  South 
for  that  purpose.  Atlanta  University  was  with  us, 
and  as  we  had  been  assured  that  its  religious  policy 
was  not  sectarian,  the  general  education  that  its  ex- 
traordinary advantages  offered  was  heartily  recom- 
mended to  all.  Best  of  all,  the  spirit  of  the  true 
teacher  showed  itself  in  the  offer  of  Dr.  H.  M. 
Turner  to  instruct  such  young  ministers  who  could 
find  time  to  spend  a  few  weeks  or  months  with  him, 
and  the  necessity  of  an  educated  ministry  was  re- 
impressed  upon  the  brethren  by  the  committee  of 
which  he  was  chairman. 

"  We  cannot  expect  the  people  to  feed,  clothe  and 
reverence  us  unless  we  are  able  to  repay  them  with 
that  instruction  and  knowledge  which  our  exalted 
position  demands,  and  they  naturally  expect.  The 
simple  titles  of  preacher,  deacon  and  elder  are  not 
enough  to  satisfy  those  who  are  thirsting  for  moral 
and  religious  knowledge.  We  must  be  able  to  im- 
part the  same,  otherwise  we  will  become  mere 
sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal,  and  our 
preaching  will  be  but  little  more  than  the  low  of  an 
ox  or  the  bray  of  an  ass.     The  minister  is  the  rep- 


62  AFRICAN   METHODISM   I1ST  THE   SOUTH; 

resentative  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  such  he 
should  be  able,  learned  and  chaste,  and  every  spare 
moment  should  be  devoted  to  the  acquisition  of 
such  information  as  will  fit  him  for  his  high  station." 

The  above  quotation  is  just  as  applicable  to-day 
as  then.  In  fact  it  will  always  be  applicable,  and 
every  minister  of  the  church  feels  the  need  of  excit- 
ing all  to  redoubled  efforts  for  the  sake  of  our 
church,  our  children  and  our  race. 

The  growth  in  recognition  of  our  work,  worth 
and  bearing  was  shown  by  an  amount  of  interest  ex- 
ceeding that  exhibited  at  our  last  meeting  in  Thom- 
asville,  Ga.  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  Rev.  W.  J. 
Gaines  and  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson  were  invited  to 
preach  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  a  courtesy  never 
before  extended  to  us  in  the  State,  and  the  white 
citizens  alone,  of  Albany,  contributed  some  five 
hundred  dollars  toward  the  support  of  the  Confer- 
ence. 

Cartersville,  Ga.,  was  the  place  selected  for  the 
third  session  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference,  and 
then  it  assembled  in  St.  Luke's  Chapel,  December 
1 6,  1S75,  wilh  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward  presiding. 
This  change  of  time  brought  two  sessions  of  this 
Conference  within  the  one  year,  the  first  having 
been  held  at  Athens  in  January. 

Sermons  were  preached  before  the  body  by  the 
writer  and  by  Rev.  T.  N.  Stewart,  who  filled  Bishop 
Ward's  place,  he  being  in  feeble  health.  Rev.  F. 
J.  Peck  preached  the  Ordination  Sermon,  and  Con- 
ference also  listened  to  a  discourse  by  Rev.  Robert 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.  63 

Anderson.  There  was  very  little  business  aside 
from  the  regular  order. 

William  Foster,  John  Jackson,  George  Towns, 
George  Martin,  Alfred  McCarver,  L.  McClaren, 
M.  M.  Nelson,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Wesley  Neale, 
B.  R.  Glass,  A.  Blunt,  Aaron  Parsons  were  ad- 
mitted on  trial;  M.  N.  Nelson,  H.  T.  Cargile,  T. 
Slaughter,  G.  Jones,  G.  Martin,  George  Copeland, 
H.  D.  Bush  and  J.  H.  M.  Durand  were  ordained  dea- 
cons; the  only  elder    ordained  was  Mark  E.  Cox. 

Edward  Purdee's  was  the  only  death  the  North 
Georgia  Conference  was  called  to  mourn  this  year. 

The  General  Conference  which  was  to  meet  in 
May,  1876,  called  for  an  election  of  delegates  at 
this  session,  which  was  carried  out  with  the  follow- 
ing list  as  the  result:  Andrew  Brown,  J.  A.  Wood, 
S.  B.  Jones,  F.  J.  Peck,  L.  Gardner,  H.  Strickland, 
S.  H.  Robertson,  Dr.  T.  N.  Stuart,  George  Wash- 
ington, Daniel  McGhee,  Peter  McLain,  and  as  alter- 
nates, Levi  Walker,  Daniel  McGhee,  Robert  An- 
derson, Burrell  Mitchell,  S.  Gardner,  J.  L.  Smith, 
A.  R.  Spencer,  Jefferson  Cary,  Jr.,  A.  Price,  H.  C. 
Boyd,  J.  A.  Davis.  The  lay  delegates  were  also 
approved.  This  Conference  made  a  report  of 
Dollar  Money  as  reaching  82,699.00. 


64  AFKICATS"   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A    SKETCH    OF    THREE    YEARS. 

For  the  year  of  1875  St.  Philip's  Station  was 
manned  by  Rev.  W.  D.  Johnson,  and  St.  James 
Mission  by  Rev.  H.  M.  Turner,  Bethel  Mission  by 
W.  C.  Gaines,  St.  John's  Chapel  by  E.  P.  Holmes, 
and  Columbus  City  Station  by  the  writer.  Albany 
Station  was  filled  by  S.  W.  Drayton. 

The  State  Missionary,  Rev.  T.  N.  Stewart,  re- 
ported $86.80  for  the  year;  and  from  the  grand 
total,  as  reported  by  the  Secretary,  the  Georgia 
Conference  brought  up  $1,511.30  for  Dollar  Money. 
This  last  showed  that  Georgia  meant  to  do  her  duty 
and  promised  well  for  the  next  answer  to  the  Finan- 
cial Secretary,  J.  H.  W.  Burley,  who  appealed  for 
aid  in  helping  swell  the  receipts  of  the  fiscal  year 
to  $50,000.00. 

The  Centennial  year  of  1876  found  the  Georgia 
Conference  down  upon  the  coast  at  Savannah,  Jan- 
uary 29,  where  the  body  opened  its  deliberations  in 
St.  Philips  A.  M.  E.  Church.  Bishop  Ward  was 
present,  not  having  been  once  absent  during  his 
years  of  service  with  us.  S.  H.  Robertson  was 
made  Secretary  and  W.  D.  Johnson,  Statistical  Sec- 
retary.    This  year,  Revs.  S.  H.  Robertson,  W.  H. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         65 

Jackson,  H.  B.  Dowdell,  Lewis  W.  Tyson,  were 
transferred  from  the  North  Georgia  Conference  to 
this;  Rev.  Edward  Ware  from  the  Florida  to  this, 
and  Revs.  William  Price,  S.  S.  Mimms,  J.  W.  Ricks 
and  Kelley  Moses  from  this  body  to  the  Florida 
work. 

The  General  Conference,  which  was  to  meet  in 
Atlanta  in  May  following,  necessitated  the  election 
of  delegates  to  that  body.  The  Georgia  Confer- 
ence was  entitled  to  thirteen  representatives — one 
to  every  eleven  members  according  to  Discipline — 
therefore  the  following  delegates  were  chosen:  Dr. 
H.  M.  Turner,  Revs.  W.  J.  Gaines,  C.  L.  Bradwell, 
W.  H.  Noble,  Geo.  W.  H.  Williams,  William  Brad- 
well,  Henry  Porter,  E.  P.  Holmes,  W.  H.  Taylor, 
Wm.  Raven,  W.  D.  Johnson  and  Robert  Crowley. 
The  alternates  were  Revs.  William  Price,  W.  H. 
Harris,  Mansfield  Dillard,  Alfred  Attaway,  Warren 
Shorts,  W.  H.  Harris,  George  Linder,  John  Mc- 
Dougal  and  James  Porter.  The  lay  delegates  were 
John  Steward,  Jackson  Holt,  L.  B.  Bateman,  Louis 
DeGraffenreid. 

An  effort  was  made  to  provide  each  P.  E.  Dis- 
trict with  a  parsonage  for  a  home  for  its  Presiding 
Elder,  but  the  time  was  not  ripe  for  the  success  of 
such  a  movement.  Various  visitors  addressed  the 
Conference,  among  them  Col.  J.  E.  Bryant,  and 
Rev.  W.  E.  Markham,  of  the  Georgia  Congrega- 
tional Church,  also  Mr.  John  H.  Deveaux,  editor  of 
the  "  Colored  Tribune.''''     The  good   Daughters  of 


66  AFEICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

Conference  remembered  us,  as  usual,  with  a  gift  of 
money,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up 
a  constitution  for  this  guild  of  workers,  while  the 
brethren  were  recommended  to  organize  one  in  each 
charge.  Woman  was  first  at  the  tomb  and  last  at 
the  cross,  as  has  been  said,  and  ever  has  been  the 
helper  in  the  church.  There  are  thousands  of 
churches  which  owe  a  large  share  of  their  pros- 
perity, spiritually  and  financially,  to  the  faithful  work 
and  earnest  prayers  of  these  sisters,  who,  in  their 
own  way,  have  solved  many  a  problem  perplexing 
to  those  bearing  the  responsibilities,  and  have  made 
many  ways  smooth,  which  without  them  would  have 
been  most  rough  and  thorny.  The  ministers  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  church  fully  appreciate  all  that  woman  has 
done,  and  is  doing,  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  church 
of  our  fathers  and  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Conference  voted  that  eight  should  be  the  stand- 
ard number  of  elders,  sixteen  of  deacons,  and 
thirteen  of  these  admitted  on  trial.  Rev.  D.  T. 
Green  was  elected  to  Elder's  orders.  A.  M.  H. 
Evans,  W.  H.  Hammond,  M.  R.  Granderson  and 
Nelson  S.  Lowery  were  elected  to  deacon's  orders. 
Conference  admitted  on  trial  Abram  Martin,  Benj. 
Roberts,  Russell  Young,  Randall  Jackson,  Wm. 
Hamilton,  Wesley  Simmons  and  J.  W.  Wynn. 

A  petition  was  offered  Conference  by  the  writer 
to  appeal  to  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  James  M. 
Smith,  to  pardon  Rev.  Tunis  G.  Campbell.  The  facts 
of  the  case  seemed  to  warrant  an  effort  to  obtain 
clemency.     He    was    born    near   the  close  of  the 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         67 

«eighteeth  century,  and  had  been  preaching  as  a 
minister  of  a  sister  church  for  nearly  fifty  years. 
He  had  also  been  a  Senator  from  the  Second  Dis- 
trict of  Georgia.  He  was  found  guilty  by  the  su- 
perior court  of  Mcintosh  county  of  mal-administer- 
ing  the  law  of  the  State  while  discharging  the  func- 
tions of  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  sentenced  to  the 
penitentiary  to  hard  labor.  Knowing  the  severe 
treatment  and  hardships  to  which  he  would  be  sub- 
jected, and  mindful  of  his  service  to  God  and  man, 
as  well  as  of  his  great  age  and  feeble  constitution, 
it  seems  but  a  matter  of  duty  to  beseech  the  Gov- 
ernor to  extend  his  executive  clemency.* 

The  committee  appointed  to  visit  the  West  Broad 
-Street  Public  School,  Rev.  James  Porter,  Principal, 
reported  it  in  excellent  condition,  with  three  grades 
for  boys  and  four  for  girls — a  total  of  four  hundred 
and  nineteen  pupils  enrolled,  with  six  teachers  aside 
from  himself.  It  was  a  lesson  to  every  laggard 
minister  that  he  must  "  get  himself  to  his  studies," 
and  the  report  was  made  the  basis  of  an  urgent  de- 
mand for  the  ministers  to  meet  the  growing  require- 
ments of  the  age.  The  finances  were  in  a  better 
condition  than  ever  before,  with  fourteen  thousand 
two  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members,  as  re- 
ported in  the  Conference.  The  Dollar  money  reached 
$2,010.50,  while  theySunday-school  money  stood  at 
$1,123.55. 


*Our  efforts  were  in'vain,  however.  The  Governor  received  the  commit- 
vtee  kindly,  but  he  wrote  that  the  evidence  was  so;clear  that  he  felt  the  law 
must  take  its  course. 


68  AFEICAN  METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

The  General  Conference  of  1872  had  given  us 
the  Dollar  system,  which  for  four  years  we  have 
been  pushing  forward.  The  sixth  decade  of  the 
church  had  been  reached,  and  eleven  years  had 
passed  since  the  standard  of  African  Methodism 
had  been  planted  in  the  South,  amid  the  influence 
of  military  forces,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the 
greatest  war  any  country  ever  saw.  Nine  years 
the  work  in  Georgia  had  flourished  in  some  form. 
It  was  fitting  that,  as  we  reached  another  decade  in 
our  history,  Georgia,  as  a  representative  of  the 
South,  should  extend  her  arms  to  the  church  in 
hearty  invitation  to  come  and  see  what  time  had 
wrought — to  come  at  a  time  when  universal  liberty 
was  the  keynote  of  the  song  sung  by  the  whole 
land. 

In  pursuance  of  this  invitation,  the  fifteenth  Quad- 
rennial Session  of  the  General  Conference  of  the  A. 
M.  E.  Church,  met  in  Atlanta,  Ga.,  May  14,  1876, 
and  continued  in  session  until  the  18th,  Bishop  D. 
A.  Payne  presided  at  the  opening,  assisted  by 
Bishops  Wayman,  Campbell,  Shorter,  Ward  and 
J.  M.  Brown.  The  memorial  services  of  Bishop 
William  Paul  Quinn  were  held  in  the  church  May  5th. 

The  session  was  a  pleasant  one,  as  well  as  encour- 
aging in  all  particulars.  The  Southern  work — its 
rapid  and  vigorous  growth — was  most  cheering, 
stimulating  to  new  efforts  the  body  which  met  in  the 
heart  of  the  South  for  the  first  time.  From  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  in  1868,  after  the  beginning  in  Charles- 
ton in  1865,  the  General  Conference  had  gravitated 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   TEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        69 

toward  the  South  by  degrees  as  toward  a  magnet, 
for  Nashville,  Tenn.,  entertained  in  1872,  and  it  was 
to  seek  the  South  again  in  18S0,  when  it  assembled 
in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Now  it  was  in  the  very  heart  of 
that  section.  The  people  did  their  part,  as  did 
the  city  also,  and  it  was  clear  to  every  thoughtful 
mind  that  here  in  Georgia  lay  a  great  work,  with 
unlimited  possibilities  and  appreciative  surroundings. 

The  church  took  its  entrance  upon  a  new  decade 
of  work  in  the  Master's  vineyard  with  Rev.  H.  M. 
Turner,  as  General  Business  Manager.  Rev.  J.  H. 
W.  Burley,  Financial  Secretary;  Rev.  B.  T.  Tan- 
ner, editor  of  the  Recorder;  Rev.  J.  C.  Embry, 
Commissioner  of  Education;  Rev.  R.  H.  Cain,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Missionary  Society;  and  Rev.  C.  L. 
Bradwell,  as  Traveling  Agent. 

Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell  was  assigned  the  work 
which  included  Georgia  at  this  General  Conference, 
and  he  opened  his  work  in  the  State,  December  1st, 
1876,  meeting  the  North  Georgia  Conference  when 
it  assembled  to  hold  its  session  at  Griffin.  In  his 
opening  address  he  pleaded  for  a  plain  understand- 
ing of  each  other  before  there  should  be  too  great 
criticism — time  to  become  acquainted,  a  prime 
necessity  not  to  be  overlooked  in  the  itinerant  sys- 
tem. 

A  class  of  twenty-three  was  admitted  on  trial  : 
Revs.  James  Johnson,  Geo.  Parks,  G.  H.  Holmes? 
Oscar  Wardell,  Jettes  Thornton,  Samuel  C.  Hyte, 
Adolphus  Freeny,  July  White,  John  J.  Belt,  Henry 
Mullens,  J.   W.   Lawrence,    Allen   Mcintosh,  Joel 


70  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

Stephens,  Edward  Dillen,  John  Hays,  Evan  Davis,. 
John  Tolliver,  Wm.  Jackson,  Warren  Hill,  Seaborn* 
Jones,  Doctor  Griffin,  Richard  Butts,  July  Dessa- 
suer.  The  Elders  ordained  were  Revs.  Richard 
Harper,  J.  B.  Lofton,  W.  C.  Gaines,  Charles  War- 
ren, J.  W.  Joshua,  C.  S.  Green,  Augustus  Jones; 
the  deacons,  Revs.  W.  A.  Pierce,  Burgess  John- 
son, Peter  Cruse,  Abner  Blunt,  Wm.  Stansell, 
Washington  Campbell,  Joel  Stephens,  S.  A.  Bush,. 
Perry  Simon. 

Elder  Noah  H.  Russel,  who  joined  the  Confer- 
ence at  Macon  in  1867,  had  died  this  year  and  Clay- 
ton Bush  had   withdrawn. 

Notice  was  given  that  the  Theological  Institute  of 
our  Conference  would  open  in  Bethel  church,  Jan- 
uary 9,  and  continue  each  succeeding  Tuesday 
morning.  It  was  a  step  in  advance  to  have  a 
preachers'  meeting  like  this,  and  had  it  succeeded  it 
would  have  done  a  great  amount  of  good,  but  un- 
der the  direction  of  Francis  J.  Peck  it  failed  to  ac- 
complish much. 

The  transfers  to  the  Conference  were  Rev.  J.  E, 
Weir  from  the  Florida  Conference,  and  E.  Waters 
from  the  Georgia  Conference. 

Bishop  Campbell  met  the  last  named  body,  Janu- 
ary 18,  (1877)  at  Bainbridge,  Ga.,  Bishop  Campbell 
presiding.  Dr.  H.  M.  Turner,  General  Manager 
of  the  publication  department,  was  with  the  Con- 
ference. Dr.  Wm.  D.  Johnson  wisely  asked  leave 
to  make  his  report  early  that  he  might  give  his  un- 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   TEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        71 

divided  attention  to  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the 
body. 

The  visitors  were  much  pleased  with  the  work 
and  gave  words  of  encouragement,  while  Bishop 
Campbell  in  his  most  characteristically  happy  vein 
replied  that  God  intends  the  nations  redeemed  to 
possess  the  earth  in  common,  that  they  shall  spread 
and  people  it.  He  instanced  the  settlement  of 
America  and  Africa  and  the  commencement  of  the 
scattering  abroad  at  Babel,  but  one  day  they  should 
return  to  each  other.  He  said  that  the  three  sons 
of  Noah  had  in  turn  mastered  the  world,  but  now 
possession  must  be  in  common.  Though  Japheth 
had  so  far  exceeded  his  brothers  in  the  race  for  do- 
minion and  wealth,  Ham  and  Shem  had  determined 
to  overtake  him  somewhere  and  make  him  disgorge 
his  gains.  They  had  caught  him  in  America  and 
he  is  now  disgorging.  Dr.  H.  M.  Turner,  as  Vice- 
President  of  the  Colonization  Society,  also  pleaded 
for  Africa — that  aid  should  be  given  by  Congress, 
that  "  we  may  return  to  our  Fatherland"  The 
Bishop  may  yet  go  there,  and  if  he  does,  it  will  be 
the  wish  of  his  many  friends  that  he  be  made  pres- 
ident or  king  of  the  whole  country.  Some  mem- 
bers of  the  Friends'  Society  in  Philadelphia  were 
present  and  arranged  for  contributing  some  books 
to  the  Conference. 

The  Bishop  arranged  for  supplying  Prospect  and 
Mt.  Airy  Churches  in  the  North  Georgia  Confer- 
ence from  the  Georgia  and  Wright's  Chapel  and 
all  of  Crawford  County  from  North  Georgia.    The 


72  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IJST  THE   SOUTH  ; ' 

Dollar  money  reached  $1,488.20.  The  preachers 
admitted  on  trial  were  Cuyler  Hamilton,  M.  A. 
Grandison,  John  M.  Collins,  Geo.  Green,  Joseph 
Collier,  S.  D.  Roseborough,  Daniel  Jones,  Alexan- 
der Glover,  Thomas  Williams,  C.  S.  Miller,  with 
Wright  Newman  and  Nathan  Brown  as  local 
preachers.  Solomon  Clarke,  J.  R.  Thornton,  H. 
W.  Whitaker  and  Nathan  Brown  (local)  were  the 
deacons  ordained,  also  J.  W.  Wynnn  under  the 
rule  for  missionaries. 

The  North  Georgia  Conference  of  this  year  con- 
vened at  Eatonton,  December  5,  with  Bishop  Camp- 
bell presiding.  Dr.  Turner  was  present,  representing 
the  Publication  Department  of  our  church,  and  vig- 
orously pushed  its  claims  upon  the  pastors  of  the 
Conference.  He  was  ably  seconded  by  the  Bishop, 
who  said  that  the  action  of  last  General  Confer- 
ence called  upon  each  minister  to  take  the  Church 
Organ,  and  he  intimated  that  if  they  failed  in  the 
duty  they  might  fail  to  receive  an  appointment. 
The  Bishop  was  most  desirous  of  facilitating  the  bus- 
iness of  the  session,  which  seemed  to  drag  heavily. 
This  led  him  to  observe  emphatically  "  that  he  was 
sorry  for  one  thing,  and  wanted  all  to  hear  him, 
and  when  he  was  gone  to  rest  to  do  him  ihe  honor 
to  say  that  they  heard  him  say  that  the  rising  gen- 
eration would  laugh  at  us  for  spending  three  days  in 
making  the  reports  from  the  various  charges  when 
it  might  be  done  in  one-third  of  the  time. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were  Solomon 
Russell     (local),     Aaron    S.     Jackson,    Augustus 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        73 

Dozier,  Russell  Clayton,  Wm.  Duncan,  Joshua  D. 
Hall,  W.  A.  Walker,  E.  Burch,  Max  Whalley,  W. 
M.  Moore,  John  H.  King,  S.  T.  Farmer,  R.  Red- 
wine,  J.  T.  Beltsaw,  Henry  Crittenden,  Brisco 
Griggs.  B.  R.  Glass  was  the  sole  deacon  elected 
for  ordination,  while  Anthony  Johnson,  Nathan 
Berry,  George  Chapel,  Wm.  McCoy,  J.  F.  Brown, 
were  the  elders.  Rev.  Lewis  Davis  had  died.  A 
number  of  men  were  left  without  appointments,  and 
assigned  to  the  various  Quarterly  Conferences. 

The  pastoral  reports  showed  a  steady  advance  in 
every  direction. 

The  next  Georgia  Conference  met  in  St.  James' 
Church,  Columbus,  January  30,  1878.  Bishop 
Campbell's  opening  address  was  "  tender,  soothing 
and  sublime,  yet  truly  eloquent.  " 

Rev.  Josiah  Jones  and  Rev.  C.  L.  Miller  were 
not  there  to  answer  to  their  names.  They  had  gone 
to  the  better  land.  Rev.  James  Peter  was  elected 
Secretary  of  the  Conference,  Rev.  W.  J.  Gaines, 
Recording  Secretary,  and  Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson, 
Statistical  Secretary. 

There  were  a  great  many  visitors  present.  Rev. 
Green  Mc Arthur,  Rev.  Nelson  Asbius  and  Rev.  Jef- 
ferson Pinkard,  of  the  Baptist  clergy,  were  intro- 
duced, also  a  number  of  brethren  from  the  North 
Georgia  Conference.  Rev.  J.  V.  M.  Morris,  pastor 
of  Trinity  Girard  M.  E.  Church,  South,  was  present, 
and  gave  his  fraternal  greeting  in  a  most  touching 
speech,  claiming  fellowship  as  one  of  the  great 
Methodist   family.     It  is    true  that   our  Methodist 


74  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN"   THE   SOUTH  ; 

brethren  of  all  branches  of  the  great  Christian- 
family  everywhere  seem  not  only  to  bear  the  closest 
relations,  but  to  be  desirous  of  expressing  these.  Yet,. 
at  the  same  time  the  writer  would  make  no  invidious 
comparisons,  for  there  are  those  of  other  denomina- 
tions with  whom  we  come  in  contact  who  are  most 
cordial  in  friendly  feeling.  It  is  most  grateful  to  a 
struggling  people  to  know  of  the  kind  regard  in 
which  it  is  held  by  the  church  which  it  left  when  it 
sought  freedom  of  worship  among  its  own.  Among 
the  visitors  late  in  the  session  were  Rev.  Joseph  S. 
Key,  of  St.  Paul  Church,  and  Rev.  J.  A.  O.  Cook, 
of  St.  Luke's  Church  (M.  E.  Church,  South). 
The  former  in  his  remarks  referred  most  feelingly 
to  one  of  the  old  veterans,  old  Uncle  Wm.  Bentley, 
who  long  ago  had  entered  upon  his  rest.  The  asso- 
ciations the  two  had  with  him,  and  the  holy  inspira- 
tion caught  from  him  were  especially  noted.  To 
all  these  fraternal  addresses  hearty  and  happy  re- 
sponses were  made.  Col.  J.  E.  Bryant  who,  if  pos- 
sible, attends  each  Conference  session,  was  also 
present. 

Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson  preached  the  annual  ser- 
mon, making  a  fine  effort  that  profoundly  moved  all.. 
The  missionary  sermon  was  delivered  by  Rev.  G. 
W.  H.  Williams  of  the  Thomasville,  District  and 
was  a  masterly  one.  Two  other  sermons  were 
preached;  one  by  W.  H.  Noble  and  one  by  Prof. 
James  Porter. 

The  North  Georgia  delegates  were  introduced  to 
the  Conference,  and  the  matter  of  the  joint  meeting 


OK   TWENTY-FIVE    TEAKS    OF   FREEDOM.  75 

upon  the  late  Educational  Convention  was  brought 
up  by  the  writer  in  a  movement  for  Conference  to 
adopt  the  preamble  and  resolutions  drawn  up.  Then 
followed  some  earnest  speeches  by  Rev.  W.  D. 
Johnson,  H.  M.  Turner,  W.  J.  Gaines,  each  in  his 
own  peculiar  style.  The  Secretary  of  the  Confer- 
ence was  pleased  to  record  of  these,  "  They  vied ' 
with  each  other  in  their  captivating  remarks.  The 
audience  was  held  spell-bound  while  they  soared 
aloft  in  the  mazes  of  eloquence  divine."  The  body 
was  at  last  so  moved  that  nominal  trustees  were 
appointed  for  the  school,  and  the  work  of  education 
received  another  impetus. 

Rev.  Jefferson  Cary  was  transferred  from  the 
North  Georgia  to  the  Georgia  Conference,  and 
Rev.  S.  W.  Drayton  was  allowed  at  this  time  to 
occupy  supernumerary  relationship.  Several  of  the 
members  had  died:  Rev.  Patrick  Wall  and  Rev. 
C.  S.  Miller,  both  young  men,  who  died  in  the 
faith.  Rev.  W.  H.  Harris  and  Rev.  Josiah  Jones 
were  two  of  the  older  Christian  workers,  number- 
ing three-score  years  and  more.  The  old  men 
must  expect  to  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth 
within  brief  periods,  and  their  work  is  done.  It 
seems  hard,  however,  when  we  see  the  strong, 
youthful  workers  cut  down,  and  we  fail  to  compre- 
hend the  ways  of  our  God  in  these  manifestations  of 
His  power.  Thanks  to  the  living  faith  we  have  in 
Him,  though  we  sorrow  and  wonder,  we  bow  be- 
fore His  will,  and  knoweth  within  our  hearts  that 
"He  doeth  all  things  well." 


76  AFRICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

Foreign  Missions  received  the  attention  of  this 
body  more  than  ever  before.  It  expressed  its  de- 
termination to  do  something  now  in  their  support. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were,  Elijah 
Watson,  Marshall  Stevens,  P.  Brookens,  Andrew 
Griffin,  Allen  Cooper,  E.  D.  Lowrey,  George  Neal, 
John  Caesar,  Toby  Mclver,  John  H.  Harris,  J.  M. 
Cox,  Lewis  S.Beatty,  J.  H.  Adams,  Prince  Davis  and 
J.  M.  Mappe.  The  deacons  elected  and  ordained 
were  Abram  Martin,  Richard  Brooks,  Russell 
Young,  Samuel  J.  Thomas,  Daniel  Duncan  ;  elders, 
S.  C.  Powell,  L.  A.  Smith.  Wm .  H .  Powell,  Giles 
Jordan.  Isaac  Coachman,  Jacob  Graham,  Andrew 
Johnson,  James  Etheridge,  B.  Mimms.  G.  G.  Flem- 
ing, Samuel  George.  Peter  W.  Williams,  George 
Bass.* 

Upon  the  fifth  day,  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  then 
of  the  Fifth  Episcopal  District,  was  present  with  the 
Conference,  and  warmly  welcomed.  It  was  a  mat- 
ter of  regret  that  the  Senior  Bishop  could  not 
be  present  with  us,  as  invited  by  Bishop  Camp- 
bell. His  letter  of  regret  to  the  Conference  is  so 
characteristic  of  his  joy  in  good  works  that  we  give 
it  here  in  full: 

"  Reverend  and  Dear  Colleague  : 

"Yours  came  to  hand  this  morning,  and  this  is  to 


*Rev.  David  White,  ordained  elder  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Zion  Church,  was 
presented  by  the  writer  for  full  membership,  coming  to  us  recommended 
by  Rev.  Cain  Rogers,  of  the  Alabama  Conference,  as  a  man  "  sound  in  faith 
and  (if  good  Christian  character."  He  was  received  and  placed  on  the  list 
of  traveling  elders. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         77 

say  that  I  deeply  regret  that  the  state  of  my  health 
will  not  permit  me  to  leave  home  at  present. 

"I  had  to  leave  home  on  the  nth  ult.  for  Tren- 
ton to  attend  the  jubilee  occasioned  by  the  emanci- 
pation of  our  beautiful  church  from  all  its  indebted- 
ness— $8,000 — all  raised  and  paid  within  thirteen 
months  after  its  dedication,  and  a  second  church 
built  besides,  and  half  of  its  indebtedness  reduced; 
all,  under  God,  accomplished  through  the  tact,  pluck 
and  common  sense  of  Dr.  Stevenson.  Returning 
home  on  the  26th,  I  had  not  the  means  to  take  a 
sleeping  car,  and  was  exposed  to  draughts  from  a 
poorly  heated  car.  I  contracted  a  severe  cold,  from 
which  I  am  now  suffering,  so  that  I  dare  not  leave 
home  at  present. 

"  I  had  proposed  to  winter  this  year  at  Jackson- 
ville, Florida,  and  St.  Augustine,  but  to  accommo- 
date Dr.  Stevenson,  all  my  plans  have  been  de- 
ranged. Should  I  recover  in  the  next  fortnight  to 
travel  with  safety,  and  I  get  the  means,  I  will  follow 
you,  if  you  will  write  again  and  let  me  know  of 
your  movements. 

"  A  trip  through  Southern  Georgia  and  Florida, 
would  afford  me  no  small  enjoyment,  because  we 
would  be  of  mutual  aid  to  each  other  and  accom- 
plish the  greatest  good  by  our  joint  labors.  But 
God's  will  be  done.  I  suppose  your  cherished  wife 
has  informed  you  of  the  fact  that  we  have  paid  our 
missionary  to  Hayti  every  cent  of  what  we  pledged 
him.  This  is  a  noble  work  for  one  year,  and  to  me 
is    an   earnest    of    the  future  victories    which    the 


78  AFKICAISr   METHODISM   EST  THE   SOUTH  ; 

great  head    of   the    church   intends  to   accomplish 
through  the  agency  of  the  A.  M.  E.  church. 

"  But  this  victory  should  not  make  us  content.  It 
should  rather  cause  us  to  redouble  our  efforts  in  be- 
half of  Jesus,  and  within  the  next  twelve  months  be 
prepared  to  send  a  missionary  into  the  Spanish  port 
of  that  historic  island  which  will,  in  the  next  hundred 
years,  pay  us  one  hundred  fold  in  the  conversion  of 
souls,  as  well  as  in  material  wealth.  The  Lord 
Jesus  make  this  bring  forth  abundant  fruit  in  all 
ages.  Fraternally,  Payne." 

This  reference  to  our  Haytian  work,  together  with 
Bishop  Campbell's  stirring  address,  so  encouraged 
the  brethren  as  to  the  good  being  accomplished  by 
Rev.  Mossell,  our  missionary,  that  a  committee  was 
appointed  to  write  him,  assuring  him  of  the  support 
and  prayer  of  the  Georgia  Conference,  and  as  a 
substantial  proof  of  the  same,  to  send  him  a  dona- 
tion of  fifty  dollars.  Prayer  without  work  is  like 
faith  without  work.  The  two  go  hand  in  hand  in 
any  successful  undertaking,  religious  or  secular. 

The  transfers  from  the  work  within  this  Confer- 
ence were  Rev.  W.  H.  Harris  and  the  writer,  to 
North  Georgia;  Rev.  W.  C.  Gaines  came  into  the 
Georgia  Conference. 

For  the  first  time  in  any  Georgia  Conference,  on 
the  day  preceding  that  of  adjournment,  the  Bishop 
read  out  the  appointments,  giving  the  certificates 
the  following  day.  The  appointments  were  re- 
ceived with  general  satisfaction. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.        79 

The  statistical  tables  show  a  considerable  increase 
over  that  of  the  previous  year,  and  stamped  the 
Georgia  as  the  banner  Conference.  The  amount  of 
Dollar  money  raised  was  $2,009.97.  The  discus- 
sion over  the  place  at  which  the  next  session  should 
be  held,  resulted  in  the  selection  of  Cuthbert,  Ga., 
where  a  Normal  school  was  situated,  one  which  the 
Conference  then  had  in  mind  to  obtain  possession  of, 
and  place  under  our  church.  It  was  recognized 
that  this  could  be  made  a  strong  school  for  our  min- 
isters, if  such  could  be  done. 


80  AFEICAIST   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH 


CHAPTER  X. 

MADISON,   CUTHBERT    AND    MACON. 

Madison,  Georgia,  was  the  place  selected  for  the- 
North  Georgia  Conference  of  1879,  and  it  assembled 
there  January  8,  with  Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell,  presid- 
ing, Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ware,  then  of  the  Fifth  Dis- 
trict, assisting. 

It  was  made  a  law  of  this  Conference,  by  motion 
of  Richard  Harper,  the  Secretary  of  this  session, 
that  each  pastor  bring  to  each  annual  session  hereaf- 
ter not  less  than  one  dollar  for  less  than  one  hundred 
members,  and  one  cent  per  head  for  all  over  one  hun- 
dred members.  This  was  to  be  used  for  defraying  con- 
tingent expenses,  a  deficit  in  the  sum  necessary  for 
that  purpose  occurring  too  frequently.  In  looking 
over  the  statistical  tables  of  1878  and  1879,  it  was 
noted  that  there  was  a  decrease  in  membership} 
according  to  these  reports,  from  eleven  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-seven,  to  eleven  thousand  six 
hundred  and  seventy-seven.  It  was  small,  it  was 
true,  but  the  question  asked  was  concerning  the  con- 
sistency of  such  a  decrease  with  the  reports  of  revi- 
vals. There  was  a  fear  expressed  then  that  the 
membership  was  being  reduced  because  of  the  re- 
quirements under  the  Dollar  money  law.       Later  the 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.  81 

same  matter  has  been  brought  to  our  notice  in  several 
sections,  and  we  may  have  occasion  to  refer  to  it 
again. 

Arrangements  were  entered  into  to  create  a  fund 
to  aid  in  sending  Bishop  Campbell  to  the  British 
Wesleyan  Conference,  and  a  time  set  to  elect  two 
delegates  and  alternates  to  the  Electoral  College, 
meeting  at  Washington,  Wilkes  Co.,  Nov.  2,  Oct. 
1879.  This  was  in  preparation  for  the  General  Con- 
ference of  1880. 

A  petition  was  also  prepared  looking  to  the  proper 
care  of  the  blind  colored  children  of  the  State  of 
Georgia.  The  regular  State  Blind  Asylum  was  loca- 
ted at  Macon,  under  Prof.  W.  D.  Williams  as  its 
Principal,  and  there  the  white  blind  children  received 
every  advantage.  It  seemed  but  just  that  an  effort  at 
least  should  be  made  towards  obtaining  some  of  these 
advantages  for  our  own  unfortunate  ones.  This  res  - 
olution  was  prepared  and  sent  to  Prof.  Williams,  who 
was  a  liberal  and  conservative  man  in  his  feeling  to- 
ward the  colored  people,  born  as  he  was  with  a  kindly 
disposition  to  aid  weak  humanity  wherever  found. 
He  in  turn  took  up  our  cause  and  petitioned  the  State 
Legislature  to  build  an  asylum  for  our  blind  children. 
The  result  was  that  in  1881  the  cornerstone  of  such 
an  institution  was  laid  in  Macon,  Ga.,  and  a  building 
erected  and  furnished  with  regular  professors  and 
instructors.  Its  first  Principal  was  Mr.  Lewis  Wil- 
liams, a  member  of  Cotton  Avenue  A.  M.  E.  Church,. 
6 


82  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

and  its  Secretary  for  many  years.*  This  is  certainly 
a  lesson  that  we  should  do  whatever  comes  to  our 
hand.  Though  we  may  not  see  clearly  how  we  shall 
obtain  what  we  ask,  we  may  rest  assured  that  if  it  is 
right  that  we  should  have  it,  it  will  be  ours  in  due 
time,  and  so  we  should  not  hesitate  to  undertake 
those  things  that  are  in  anyway  for  the  bettering  of 
the  condition  of  the  race.  There  is,  despite  all  our 
troubles,  a  great  deal  of  justice  to  be  found  residing 
in  human  hearts,  and  we  have  but  to  knock,  and  keep 
knocking,  until  it  comes  to  our  relief. 

There  was  no  election  of  elders  this  year,  but  the 
deacons  ordained  were  O.  A.  Wardell  and  G.  H. 
Holmes.  Richard  Smith,  D.  L.  Durand,  William 
Ivey,  N.  J.  McComb,  M.  D.  Brookens,  H.  B.  Parks, 
Robert  Richardson,  C.  H.  Carter  and  Ralph  Lawson 
were  admitted  on  trial.  When  this  session  adjourned, 
January  15th,  it  was  succeeded  in  a  week  by  the 
Georgia  Conference,  which  opened  at  Cuthbert  upon 
the  22d,  with  a  full  roll  of  members,  and  before  it 
closed  its  visitor's  roll  was  a  lengthy  one  as  well. 

Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward  was  present  as  associate 
Bishop  with  Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell,  and  Rev.  James 
Porter  was  made  Secretary,  with  Revs.  S.  H.  Robert  - 
•son  and  Richard  Harper,  assistants. 

The  Annual  Sermon  was  preached  at  Payne's 
Chapel  by  Rev.  Henry  Strickland  from  the  text  in 
Ecc.  viii:  12,  "  Yet  surely  I  know  that  it  shall  be  well 

*Mr.  Lewis  Williams,  now  deceased,  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many  things.  He 
was  not  a  graduate  of  any  school,  but  Prof.  W.  D.  Williams,  who  was  then  the  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Schools  of  Bibb  Co.,  said  that  he  always  passed  the  best  exam- 
ination of  any  of  the  applicants  who  came  before  him.  The  writer  can  truthfully 
say  of  him  that  he,  with  Mr.  A.  H.  Hendricks,  were  the  best  church  Secretaries 
who  have  served  him  in  his  ministerial  life. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         83 

with  them  that  fear  God,  which  fear  before  him." 
This  pioneer  of  African  Methodism  was  "  in  the 
spirit,"  and  preached  with  fervor  and  acceptance  to  a 
large  congregation. 

It  was  ruled  that  all  moneys  coming  from  the 
charges,  according  to  Discipline,  must  be  reported 
in  the  financial  report,  and  that  special  donations 
must  come  separately  and  be  noticed  separately  upon 
the  minutes.  This  plan  has  certainly  kept  financial 
matters  in  a  much  clearer  condition  and  left  the 
records  so  plain  that  no  caviling  could  thereafter  be 
indulged  in  on  this  head.  The  business  of  the  church 
is  important,  and  the  financial  success  of  the  same  is 
dependent  upon  the  strict  manner  in  which  that 
business  is  conducted,  so  that  for  this  reason,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  avoiding  all  doubt  and  misunderstand- 
ing concerning  it,  there  should  be  the  clearest  and 
the  fullest  possible  statements. 

When  disciplinary  questions  were  called,  and  the 
response  reached  to  "  How  much  Dollar  Money?"  it 
pleased  the  Conference  to  hear  the  report  of  one 
thousand,  sixty-two  dollars  and  forty-five  cents. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  in  the  Georgia 
Conference  this  year  were,  John  Austin,  W.  C.  Shel- 
ton,  Newrey  Ellison,  John  H.  Adams,  Prince  Davis, 
Peter  Smith,  Prince  Irwin,  W.  O.  P.  Sherman,  S.  G. 
Burnett,  W.  C.  Davis,  of  North  Georgia^Conference} 
E.  H.  Wilson,  M.  J.  Ingraham,  T.  Mclver,  D.  W. 
Wilson  and  George  Washington.  In  the  election  of 
deacons  the  following  were  set  aside  for  ordination  : 
E.  Lowrey,  G.  W.  Neal,  J.  H.  Harris,   L.  S.  Beatty, 


84  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

P.  H.  M.  Brookens,  A.  Griffin,  Elijah  H.  Watson,. 
Judge  Glenn,  Allen  Cooper,  Alexander  Glover,  John 
H.  Caesar,  Willis  Lane,  Thomas  Williams,  Adolphus 
Freeny,  Sandy  D.  Roseborough,  William  Hamilton, 
John  Hayes,  G.  W.  Penny  (for  the  Alabama  Confer- 
ence). Solomon  M.  Clarke  and  Benjamin  F.  Frank- 
lin were  made  elders.  J.  G.  Fleming  withdrew  from 
the  Connection  this  year.  The  number  in  Society- 
was  reported  as  fifteen  thousand,  eight  hundred  and. 
forty-six  members,  with  four  thousand,  eight  hundred: 
and  fourteen  probationers.  With  the  exception  of 
two  expulsions  and  two  deaths,  the  ranks  remained 
unbroken  save  by  transfers.  David  White  and  A. 
S.  Dunwoody  were  on  the  death  list.  Brother  White 
was  a  young  man  of  twenty- five  years  and  a  com- 
parative stranger  to  us.  He  came  from  the  Zion 
Church  and  joined  the  Conference  in  1878,  being 
stationed  at  Sandersville.  Rev.  A.  S.  Dunwoody 
joined  the  Georgia  Conference  in  1869,  before  the 
division,  and  had  filled  in  these  ten  years  some  of  the 
most  important  appointments  upon  Circuits  and 
Missions.  He  was  on  the  Andersonville  Circuit  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  Both  of  these  brethren  left 
families  to  mourn  their  loss.  Appropriate  and  touch- 
ing respect  was  paid  to  their  memories  as  to  those 
who  die  triumphant  in  the  saving  faith. 

An  exciting  debate  arose  over  the  course  of  study 
prepared  for  the  ministry,  and  the  easy  access  now 
afforded  men  to  enter  the  holy  offices  of  the  Church. 
It  was  wisely  urged  that  the  brethren  be  careful  lest 
the  doors   swing  open   so  wide  that  many  unquali- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   TEAES    OF   FREEDOM.         85 

lied  ones  enter ;  but  the  persons  under  discussion 
being  deemed  as  fully  complying  with  the  law  they 
"were  admitted  to  orders. 

Brother  McGhee,  pastor  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
South,  and  of  the  building  we  were  occupying  through 
his  kindly  tender,  visited  the  Conference  and  ex- 
pressed hearty  greetings.  Dr.  Hamilton,  of  the  An- 
drew Female  College,  was  also  present  and  endorsed 
all  of  the  sentiments  of  the  eloquent  address  with 
which  Bishop  Campbell  welcomed  them,  but  when  it 
came  time  for  Bishop  Ward  to  be  called  for,  he 
declined,  intimating,  in  brief,  that  he  had  lived  long 
enough  to  learn  to  leave  well  enough  alone,  so  he 
simply  most  heartily  endorsed  all  that  "which  had 
been  so  beautifully  said. 

As  the  General  Conference  had,  at  its  last  session 
in  Atlanta,  appointed  Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell  to  visit 
England  and  represent  African  Methodism  in  the 
British  Wesleyan  General  Conference  to  be  held  in 
London,  Aug.,  1879,  it  behooved  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference to  do  its  share  toward  arranging  for  its  ex- 
penses to  meet  this  body  in  a  manner  fitting  to  our 
Church.  This  assembly  was  to  be  that  known  as 
the  "  One  Hundred" — the  number  of  men  upon  whom 
alone  devolved  the  general  direction  and  continuation 
of  the  British  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church,  as  inau- 
gurated by  Wesley  himself.  Over  ten  years  before 
Bishop  D.  A.  Payne  had  been  present  at  their  open- 
ing, but  up  to  this  date  (1879)  there  had  been  no 
legal  representative  from  among  us  to  meet  them, 
and  it  was  time  that  the  A.  M.  E.   Church,    with  its 


W  AFEICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

sturdy  growth,  reached  across  the  waters  with  fra- 
ternal messages  to  that  body — the  root  of  Metho- 
dism.* 

A  private  matter  required  some  consideration  at 
the  hands  of  this  Annual  Conference,  and  as  it  is  one 
from  which  we  suffer  at  times  even  now,  it  may  with, 
propriety  be  mentioned  here.  The  unusually  lengthy 
roll  of  visitors  has  been  referred  to,  but  there  were 
more  than  these.  The  Bishop  presiding  informed 
the  Conference  that  he  had  learned  that  this  large 
number  in  attendance — approaching  one  hundred — 
explained  their  presence  by  saying  that  they  were 
invited  by  their  elders.  This  statement  was  produc- 
tive of  some  considerable  consternation,  which  seized 
upon  each  member  of  Conference — each  man  asking, 
himself  if  he  was  the  one  who  had  thus  been  so  hos- 
pitable for  other  people.  It  was  a  lesson.  Our  peo- 
ple were  not  wealthy — are  not  as  a  rule  to-day — and 
the  support  of  legitimate  members  of  such  a  body  is 
often  a  serious  tax.  What  then  must  be  the  result: 
of  these  careless,  thoughtless  invitations  which  may 
precipitate  a  host  of  equally  careless  and  thoughtless 
visitors  upon  an  already  overtaxed,  yet  usually  un- 
complaining people.  Christian  charity  calls  for  the 
utmost  discretion  in  these  matters.  The  host  in  all 
cases  should  provide  entertainment  for  his  guests. 

The  Electoral  College  which  was  to  meet  at  Val- 
dosta  on  the  second  Wednesday  in  June,   called  for 


*Bishop  Payne  was  present  when,  on  his  first  visit  to  England  in  1867,  ard  ire 
his  "  Recollections  of  Seventy  Years,"  most  vividly  describes  the  meeting  of  this- 
body,  and  the  simple,  impressive  ceremony  attending  the  installation  of  the  new- 
President,  together  with  certain  customs  most  interesting  to  note. 


OK   TWENTY-FIVE   TEAES   OF  FREEDOM.  87 

election  of  lay  delegates  to  the  next  General  Confer- 
ence, and  arrangements  were  made  to  this  end. 

When  the  appointments  were  given  out  Bishop 
Campbell  gave  pertinent  admonition  to  the  minis- 
ters, closing  with  the  warning  that  every  minister 
would  do  well  to  bear  in  mind  when  he  receives 
his  notice  of  new  work.  The  Bishop  said,  as  only  he 
could  say,  "Get  to  your  places  as  soon  as  possible, 
else  the  devil  will  get  there  first."  Brother  John 
Hays  was  transferred  from  the  North  Georgia  as  a 
licentiate. 

There  were  those  who  felt  that  the  work  of  the 
Georgia  Conference  was  even  now  becoming  too 
large  for  the  one  body  to  carry  on,  and  Rev.  C.  L. 
Bradwell  took  a  step  leading  to  arrangements  for 
another  Conference  to  be  known  as  the  Middle 
Georgia  Conference,  but  his  motion  failed  of  a 
second.  Still  it  was  a  step  showing  our  growth  and 
the  appreciation  of  our  necessities.  In  1872 — the 
year  before  the  former  division — the  old  Georgia 
Conference  reported  two  hundred  and  seventy-five 
local  preachers.  The  Georgia  Conference  of  1879 
have  as  a  total  in  its  seven  Presiding  Elder  Districts 
two  hundred  and  eighty-four ;  so  it  is  seen  that 
the  same  reasons  pressed  now  as  then.  But  the 
time  was  not  yet  ripe,  and  wisdom  suggested  that 
were  another  division  to  be  made  it  would  be  well  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  younger  Conference  (North 
Georgia)  was  growing  as  well,  and  Georgia  African 
Methodism  would  be  best  promoted  by  consulting 
her  in  any    step  which    looked  to  reapportioning  the 


88  AFRICAN   METHODISM   EST  THE   SOUTH; 

work  in  the  State,  or  in  any  sense  beginning  the 
work  of  extension  in  ^detail.  Some  changes  were 
made,  however,  looking  to  the  more  even  distribu- 
tion of  work  in  Southern  Georgia. 

Jessup  was  attached  to  Savannah  District  and  to 
Jones  Creek  Circuit.  St.  Mary's  Church  and  Dry 
Springs  Circuit  were  detached  from  Israel  Chapel,  in 
Thomasville  District,  and  attached  to  Atapulgus 
Church,  to  be  known  as  Atapulgus  Mission.  Water- 
fall schoolhouse  was  added  to  Dry  Springs  Circuit, 
and  Cochran  Church  to  Camilla,  to  be  known  as 
Camilla  Mission.  Bibb  County  Circuit  lost  Sego 
Church,  and  Fort  Valley  Circuit,  Allen's  Crossing — 
the  two  to  be  made  a  Mission  to  Stinsonville  and 
Allen  Chapel  Circuit,  including  the  Garrett  Church  ; 
Mt.  Airy  Church  was  taken  from  Muscogee  County 
Circuit  and  Mt.  Camodore  Church,  to  be  a  Mission 
to  Mt.  Gilead  and  Pine  Grove  Circuit,  the  Munroe 
Graveyard  Church  to  be  attached  to  Stinsonville  and 
Allen's  Chapel  Circuit.  Cuthbert  Circuit  was  dis- 
turbed to  the  extent  of  taking  Bethel  Church  from 
the  Florence  Circuit,  and  Springhill  and  Smithville 
from  Bluff  Springs  Circuit,  the  three  to  form  a  new 
Circuit  to  be  known  as  Smithville  Circuit,  also  a 
new  Mission  to  be  known  as  Stewart  County  Mis- 
sion. Bethel  Church  to  be  detached  from  Lumpkin 
Circuit  and  attached  to  Webster  County  Circuit. 
Other  changes  were  made  in  the  remaining  districts: 
Americus  was  to  have  a  new  Circuit— Cedar  Creek — 
Mahaly's  Chapel,  from  Beuna  Vista  Circuit,  to  be  at- 
tached to  it.      St.  Mark's  and  St.  Luke's  were  to  be 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.         89 

detached  from  Tabernacle,  and  anew  Circuit  formed — ■ 
the  Bradford  Circuit.  Smithville  was  made  a  station 
and  Lee  county  a  Circuit,  under  the  name  of  Lees- 
burg  Circuit.  Beal  Church  was  to  be  called  the 
Albany  Circuit,  and  anew  Mission  formed — the  Leary 
and  Williamsboro  Mission. 

Sandersville  had  an  equal  number  of  changes: 
Wrightville,  from  Laurens  County  Circuit,  helped 
form  a  new  Circuit,  including  Buckeye,  to  be  known 
as  Wrightville.  Mt.  Pulin  and  Middle  Hill,  from 
Sandersville,  gave  another,  including  Sandy  Run  ; 
Harris  Church,  Minton  Spring  and  Bottom  were  to 
be  detached  from  Davisboro  Circuit  and  Bottom  Cir- 
cuit formed,  taking  in  Hunt's  Station  and  Clear 
Spring.  Gibson  Circuit  was  formed  by  taking  Gib- 
son from  New  Llope  Circuit  and  adding  Deep  Creek 
and  Bethlehem.  Summerville  Circuit,  too,  was  made 
up  by  detaching  Summerville  from  Swanesboro  Mis- 
sion and  including  "Nine-and-a-half,"  Noah's  Ark 
and  Gobait  Hill.  Valdosta  District  had  three  new 
Circuits — Blackshear,  Pierce  County  and  Charlton 
County  Circuit — so  that  we  saw  the  work  was  growing 
to  the  extent  that  division  must  soon  again  be  neces- 
sary. 

Among  the  appointments  this  year,  St.  Philip's,  in 
Savannah,  received  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Noble  ;  St.  James, 
in  Columbus  District,  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  and  St. 
John's,  Rev.  R.  B.  Bailey. 


90  AFEICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 


CHAPTER  XL 


ONE  YEARS  WORK. 


Upon  the  7th  of  January,  1880,  the  seventh  ses- 
sion of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  assembled  in 
Cotton  Avenue,  A.  M.  E.  Church,  Macon,  where 
the  writer  was  then  stationed.  Bishop  Campbell 
presided.  It  was  the  last  year  of  his  work  in  the 
District,  and  he  prefaced  the  work  before  him  at 
this  session  by  a  short  address — at  once  of  greeting 
and  farewell,  a  model  of  the  kind,  and  paternally 
tender. 

Rev.  R.  Harper  was  made  Secretary,  with  Revs. 
J.  B.  Warren  and  A.  W.  Lowe,  assistants.  The 
annual  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  A.  W.  Lowe, 
of  Atlanta  District.  Sabbath  appointments  were 
also  filled  at  Cotton  Avenue  Church,  Presbyterian; 
First  Baptist,  Congregational,  Allen  Chapel,  (East 
Macon)  First  Congregational,  and  also  at  Tinson- 
ville.  It  was  a  day  of  feasts,  participated  in  at  these 
places  respectively,  by  Bishop  Campbell,  Revs.  R. 
A.  Hall,  J.  M.  Townsend,  D.  M.  McGhee,  R.  Gra- 
ham, Richard  Harper,  W.  H.  Harris,  H.  H.  Hollo- 
way,  George  Washington,  H.  T.  Cargile,  J.  B. 
Warner,  C.  S.  Green,  Anthony  Johnson,  Martin 
Wright,  Abner  Blount,  H.  C.  Boyd. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         91 

The  Bishop's  address  was  as  follows: 
"My  Dear  Brethren:    I  feel  glad  to  be  once 
more  in  the  presence  of  the  North  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, after  an  absence  of  nearly  twelve  months. 

"Since  last  we  met  varied  has  been  our  experi- 
ence. Each  of  us  have  had  the  '  mingled  ciip.'  I 
have  had,  and  have  now,  many  causes  for  sorrow  as 
well  as  some  for  joy.  As  for  the  sorrows  I  can 
call  God  to  witness  I  have  determined  by  His  grace 
to  endure  them  all  until  he  sayeth,  'Enough',  for 
by  the  grace  of  God  I  expect  some  day  ere  long, 
to  find  rest  from  the  turmoils  of  this  rugged  life. 
I  often  desire,  but  am  willing  to  wait,  his  appointed 
time.  One  of  the  causes  of  present  sorrow  is,  I 
realize  that  at  the  close  of  this  Conference  I  shall 
part  with  dear  and  faithful  brethren,  with  whom  I 
have  been  pleasantly  associated  during  the  past 
'Quadrennial  Term.'  Yea,  part  to  meet  never  again 
until  the  '  general  roll '  shall  summon  us  around  the 
'throne.'  Their  conduct,  conversation  and  faithful 
labor  have  endeared  them  to  me.  They  are  lovers 
of  the  church.  They  have  manifested  that  love  by 
the  faithful  services  rendered.  They  are  true  as 
steel.  With  such  thoughts  as  these  I  can  but  feel 
sad.  I  love  those  that  love  the  A.  M.  E.  Church — 
those  that  are  true  to  her  whether  near  the  Bishop 
or  not.  Such  ones  can  be  trusted,  such  men  are 
here  to-day.  Wherever  I  go  I  will  speak  well  of 
them,  will  mention  them  to  my  successors,  for  they 
must  be  cared  for.  We  cannot  do  all  we  desire  for 
you  at  once,  but  it  shall  be  done  by  degrees;  go  on, 


92  AFRICAN   METHODISM   I]ST  THE   SOUTH  ; 

take  care  of  that  assigned  you,  build  up  the  church. 
God  has  brought  me  thus  far  along  the  'lane  of 
life.'  What  He  has  done  for  me  He  will  do  for  you. 
Only  trust  him. 

"Some  of  you  must  and  will  catch  the  mantle  of 
Payne,  Brown,  Shorter,  Ward,  Wayman,  Campbell 
and  lots  of  other  veterans  that  shall  soon  pass  away. 
Only  hold  your  way.  Men  may  rise  against  you 
in  the  power  of  the  evil  one,  but  be  pure  and  they 
can  do  you  no  harm.  That  which  they  produce  to 
do  you  harm  will  do  you  good.  Be  strong  in  the 
Lord  of  hosts.  Ever  pray,  labor  and  watch  for  the 
success  of  Zion." 

The  Bishop's  remarks  were  received  with  tear- 
ful applause.  The  Bishop's  wife  was  with  us,  and 
with  a  large  number  of  other  visitors,  helped  add 
to  the  interest  of  the  session,  which  was  one  of  the 
most  interesting  sessions  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference has  witnessed.  Among  these  visitors  we 
noted  Dr.  J.  O.  A.  Clark,  Dr.  Key,  Rev.  Robert  Kent, 
and  Rev.  W.  H.  Francis,  all  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South;  Rev.  C.  McCurdy,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  Rev.  Henry  Lathrop,  of  the  Congrega- 
tionalism with  Revs.  G.  H.  Davis,  G.  R.  Mitchel 
and  Henry  Williams,  of  the  Baptist. 

Dr.  H.  M.  Turner  delivered  an  able  address  upon 
the  demands  for  intelligence  and  the  promulgation 
of  our  own  literature,  intimating  that  the  coming 
Conference  would  revise  and  advance  the  course  of 
studies.     Dr.  Turner  also  spoke  in  glowing  terms 


OK  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         93 

of  the  deceased  Bishop  Haven,  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
our  friend — a  man  and  brother. 

The  ordination  service  was  very  solomnly  con- 
ducted by  Bishop  Campbell,  assisted  by  Revs.  A. 
Brown,  R.  A.  Hall,  H.  J.  Gaines,  D.  J.  McGhee, 
Peter  McLain  and  R.  Harper.  The  deacons  were 
Thomas  Screen,  G.  Parks,  S.  McClearen,  J.  W. 
Thornton,  John  Tolliver,  Shadrack  Brown,  Evan 
Davis,  A.  S.  Jackson;  elders,  J.  B.  Warner  and  W. 
A.  Pierce.  Revs.  P.  B.  Peters,  W.  H.  Heard,  J. 
R.  Gay,  S.  G.  Gary,  Homer  Shaw,  H.  W.  Madi- 
son, W.  L.  Bowdre,  Willis  Davis,  S.  Prichard,. 
Alexander  Smith,  J.  H.  Hamilton,  Thomas  Screen,. 
D.  M.  Pailsard,  J.  W.  Kelley,  J.  H.  Hill,  Henry 
Hunt,  J.  H.  Rucker,  W.  J.  Hall,  R.  J.  Bailey,  Gif- 
ford  Clarke,  Miles  Davis,  William  Upshaw,  were 
admitted  on  trial. 

The  election  of  delegates  to  General  Conference, 
resulted  in  Revs.  W.  J.  Gaines,  A.  Brown,  J.  A. 
Wood,  D.  J.  McGhee,  A.  W.  Lowe,  A.  J.  Miller, 
R.  A.  Hall,  A.  Gonickie,  R.  Harper,  I.  S.  Hamil- 
ton, with  M.  E.  Cox,  W.  H.  Harris,  P.  McLain, 
George  Washington,  J.  A.  Davis,  C.  W.  Warren, 
J.  B.  Lofton,  R.  Graham,  L.  S.  Smith  and  E.  A. 
Shephard,  as  alternates.  The  electoral  college  of 
Oct.  8,  1879,  had  elected  W-  H-  Harrison  and  J.  W. 
Brooks  as  lay  delegates,  with  Harrison,  Harris  and 
C.  C.  Cargile,  alternates. 

The  Committee  on  Instructions  to  General  Con- 
ference Delegates  recommended  several  changes 
in  its  report,  such  as  the  establishment  of  a  Branch 


94  AFEICAN   METHODISM  H5T  THE   SOUTH; 

Book  Repository  in  Atlanta  and  other  cities;  a 
change  in  the  composition  of  General  Conference, 
giving  one  delegate  to  every  fifteen  members,  and  no 
Annual  Conference  less  than  four  itinerant  dele- 
gates; the  abolishment  of  traveling  agency,  and  the 
composition  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Church 
to  consist  of  the  Bench  of  Bishops  and  one  travel- 
ing preachers  from  each  Episcopal  District;  that  the 
Presiding  Elder  system  be  deemed  desirable  to  be 
made  obligatory  throughout  the  connection  instead 
of  optional;  also  in  endorsing  the  Wesleyan  Monu- 
mental Church  movement,  that  action  be  taken  for 
placing  therein  a  Tablet  commemorative  of  the  hon- 
ored dead  of  our  church.* 

The  Sunday-school  review,  which  was  held  at 
this  Conference,  was  productive  of  good  to 
school  and  congregation,  stimulating  both  to  a 
greater  work. 

Bishop  Campbell  was  to  leave  the  work  in  Geor- 
gia at  this  session,  and  a  committee  brought  in  the 
proper  resolutions  of  regret  and  respect  and  God 
speed,  asking  only,  in  its  own  words,  "  that  when  his 
work  is  ended  he  may  bind  his  sheaves  together, 
and  shout  the   harvest  home."     God  grant  that  it 


*The  General  Conference  moved  the  composition  of  Conference,  to  con- 
sist of  Bishops,  General  Officers,  not  less  than  two  delegates  from  each 
Annual  Conference,  or  one  for  every  twenty  members  in  each,  and  two 
lay  delegates  from  each,  in  1888.  The  General  Conference  ordered  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  branch  Repository,  and  the  publication  of  the  Southern 
Christian  Recorder.  The  Presiding  Elder  system  is  now  universal  in  the 
church.  The  Tablet  Ordinance  was  ordered,  and  a  window  was  placed  in 
the  Wesley  Monumental  Church  in  honor  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS   OF  FREEDOM.  95 

may  be  a  joyous  end  to  a  well-spent  life  when  He 
shall  choose  to  call  His  servant  up  higher. 

The  membership  reported  by  the  North  Georgia 
Conference  this  year  was  12,937,  with  3,040  proba- 
tioners. Bishop  Campbell  mentioned  the  necessity 
of  a  correct  report  of  this,  as  our  history  demanded 
it,  and  others  were  constantly  asking  for  accurate 
facts  concerning  us.  The  Dollar  Money  reached 
$2,168.30.  As  Bishop  Campbell  had  attended  the 
British  Conference  in  the  interval  since  the  last  ses- 
sion, the  members  were  desirous  of  a  sketch  of  his 
visit,  which  he  gave  characteristically  in  the  follow- 
ing, as  briefly  reported  in  the  summing  up  of  his 
remarks  in  the  record : 

"  Among  the  many  acts  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  1876,  one  of  the  greatest  was  the  appoint- 
ing of  Fraternal  Delegates  to  the  Mother  Confer- 
ence. We  think  (and  are  proud  to  state  it)  that 
the  idea  originated  among  the  young  men  of  the 
church. 

"The  British  Wesleyan  Conference  is  composed 
of  756  men,  in  which  is  the  'Legal  Hundred.' 
Wesley  was  chief  in  the  church  for  fifty  years.  At 
his  death  it  took  one  hundred  men  to  equal  him ; 
hence  the  '  Legal  Hundred.'  If  one  of  the  Legal 
men  dies  the  senior  member  takes  his  place.  If 
more  than  one,  the  vacancies  are  rilled  by  election. 
They  have  an  annual  election  of  Presidents.  Each 
ex-President  is  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Pres- 
ident. All  grave  questions  are  submitted  to  the  ex- 
Presidents  before  being    given   to  the   Assembly. 


9b  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

All  actions  of  the  Conference  must  be  sanctioned  by 
the  Legal  Hundred  before  they  become  a  law. 

"  Such,  in  part,  is  the  august  body  before  which  I 
appeared  after  a  pleasant  voyage  of  eleven  days 
upon  the  briny  deep.  And  then  there  was  a  long 
waiting  in  the  waiting  room  for  them  to  examine  my 
credentials,  for  it  is  a  terrible  job  to  get  before  the 
Legal  Hundred.  After  getting  before  them,  they 
desired  me  to  say  all  I  had  to  say  in  twenty 
minutes,  which  (as  those  who  know  me  well 
know)  was  a  hard  job.  Twenty  minutes!  Three 
thousand  miles  at  an  enormous  expense  to  speak 
twenty  minutes! 7  Well,  I  told  them  I'd  say  what 
I  could,  and  managed  to  say  just  enough  to  cause 
them  to  extend  the  time  twenty  minutes  longer.  At 
the  end  of  forty  minutes  I  had  said  enough  for  them 
to  cry,  '  Go  on;  go  on!  Say  all  you  want  to  say.' 
Then  I  went  on  and  told  my  story.  I  found  they 
had  vague  ideas  relative  to  the  status  of  the  col- 
ored people  of  America,  especially  in  the  Southern 
States.  They  knew  but  little  of  the  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church.  We  had  been  misrepre- 
sented to  them.  We  had  been  laid  before  them  as 
mushrooms,  Jonah-gourd  affairs,  bad  as  could  be, 
and  the  Southern  portion  a  little  worse. 

"  I  told  them  differently.  I  told  them  of  work 
done,  and  being  done,  in  the  South  by  faithful  men 
of  the  M.  E.  Church  South.  1  told  them  of  Capers, 
Pierce  and  others.  Their  eyes  were  closed.  I 
knocked  them  open.  I  told  them  there  was  a  leaven 
at  work  in  the  South  that  would  make  in  days  these 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF  FREEDOM.         97 

to  equal  any  other  nation  in  laboring  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  the  spread 
of  intelligence  among  all  people,  irrespective  of 
race,  color  or  previous  condition." 

So  closed  one  of  the  most  interesting  Confer- 
ences we  have  held  in  Georgia. 

Americus,  Ga.,  when  the  Georgia  Annual  Con- 
ference met  there  in  1880,  January  21,  was  the 
sixth  city  in  rank  in  the  State,  Atlanta,  Savannah, 
Augusta,  Macon  and  Columbus  respectively  out- 
ranking it  in  the  order  given;  but  it  was  of  suffi- 
cient size  to  entertain  the  body  amply,  though  it 
consisted  of  165  members,  8  Presiding  Elders,  53 
itinerant  elders,  3  local  elders,  3  superannuated  el- 
ders, 53  itinerant  deacons,  6  local  deacons,  39 
traveling  licentiates,  while  the  visitors  roll  bore 
only  a  record  of  five  visitors  from  North  Georgia, 
among  whom  was  the  writer  and  Rev.  J.  M.  Town- 
send,  Secretary  of  the  Parent  Home  and  Foreign 
Missionary  Society.  To  these  we  must  add  the 
many  unrecorded  friends  from  other  churches  who 
were  present,  and  manifested  much  interest  through- 
out the  session. 

Campbell  Chapel  was  sufficiently  able  to  contain 
all,  and  promptly  at  9  a.  m.,  Bishop  Campbell 
opened  the  session  after  the  hymn  with  a  fervent 
and  impressive  prayer,  after  which  he  read  and  com- 
mented upon  Acts,  chapter  I. 

Rev.  Wm.  D.Johnson  was  made  Secretary,  Rev. 
S.  H.  Robertson,  Assistant  Secretary,  and  Rev* 
7 


98  AFEICAN   METHODISM   IN  THE   SOUTH; 

James  Porter,  Statistical  Secretary.  The  commit- 
tees were  appointed  and  the  business  of  the  Con- 
ference was  begun.  One  new  committee — two 
from  each  of  the  seven  districts — was  appointed 
upon  new  Annual  Conference  and  Presiding  Elder 
Districts,  with  Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson,  as  chairman. 
Little  Bethel  Church  and  Muller  Church,  of  Sa- 
vannah, the  Daughters  of  Conference,  the  St. 
Philip's  Sunday-school,  with  its  Daughters  of  Con- 
ference, the  Missionary  Society  of  St.  Thomas 
Church,  Thomasville;  the  Florence  Missionary  So- 
ciety and  Sunday-school;  Albany  Sunday-school, 
Bethel  Church,  Savannah,  Burke  county  Sunday- 
school,  Taylor  Chapel,  Bainbridge,  Muller  Church, 
Jefferson  County  Circuit  Sunday-school,  Boston 
Missionary  Society,  the  Good  Samaritans  of 
Tabernacle  Church,  Bluff  Springs  Sunday-school, 
Andersonville  Sunday-school,  Daughters  of  Confer- 
ence, of  Valdosta;  Culter  Church,  Groversville  Cir- 
cuit, Daughters  of  Conference,  of  Tabernacle 
Church  ;  Arlington,  Groversville  Sunday-school, 
Talbotton  Chapel,  Daughters  of  Conference  of  Sum- 
merville — all  donated  sums  of  money  to  Conference. 
They  are  mentioned  here  that  the  reader  may  know 
something  of  the  spirit  which  has  actuated  the 
members  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  from  the  first  to 
give  of  their  little  to  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  church 
of  their  choice.  This  has  occurred  at  many  ses- 
sions. The  sums  are  mostly  small,  but  "  many  a 
mickle  makes  a  muckle  "  is  a  favorite  saying  of  the 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.         99 

thrifty  Scotchman,  and  one  the  negro  race  must 
fully  comprehend. 

For  years  this  Church  has  been  aided  in  its  sup- 
port by  these  mites,  and  there  is  not  one  in  the  vari- 
ous Conferences  throughout  the  connection  that 
does  not  feel  his  heart  warming  toward  those  who 
are  thus  striving  to  help  according  to  their  ability. 
All  the  interests  of  the  Church,  both  individual  and 
corporate,  seem  to  be  resting  upon  the  hearts  of 
those  who  thus  aid,  for  the  cause  to  be  helped  by 
these  sums  sent  are  usually  specified. 

Upon  the  second  day  the  election  for  delegates  to 
General  Conference,  which  was  to  meet  in  St.  Louis 
in  the  following  May,  took  place  with  the  following 
result:  Revs.  W.  H.  Noble,  H.  H.  Taylor  and  C. 
L.  Bradwell  acting  as  tellers  :  Elder  S.  H.  Rob- 
ertson, Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  E.  P.  Holmes,  W. 
H.  Noble,  James  Porter,  G.  W.  H.  Williams,  S. 
W.  Drayton,  D.  T.  Green,  W.  C.  Gaines,  J.  A. 
Cary,  Mansfield  Dillard.  The  alternates  were  J.  W. 
Crayton,  L.  H.  Smith,  A.  J.  Johnson,  Prince  Gad- 
sen,  R.  B.  Bailey,  W.  H.  Powell,  M.  O.  Boddie, 
Henry  Strickland,  Samuel  George.  The  lay  dele- 
gates were  A.  H.  Hendricks,  L.  J.  Lester,  with  J. 
C.  Erby  and  Allen  French,  as  alternates. 

Arrangements  were  also  made  whereby  the  lay 
delegates  should  receive  a  proportional  part  of  the 
money  raised  for  General  Conference  delegations, 
the  pastors  being  required  to  raise  two  cents  per 
member  towards  the  sum  necessary  for  all  delegates' 
expenses. 


100        AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

The  news  of  the  serious  illness  of  Bishop  J.  M._ 
Brown  having  reached  the  Conference  it  immedi- 
ately proceeded  to  prayer  and  supplication  on  his 
behalf.  A  telegram  was  also  sent  to  the  Bishop's  wife 
expressive  of  the  action  of  Conference,  with  its  sin- 
cere sympathy.  Thanks  to  God  the  good  Bishop 
was  spared  to  the  Church  and  race,  and  yet  lives, 
doing  vigorous  work  for  the  causes  nearest  his 
heart. 

Among  the  visitors  was  Rev.  Samuel  Anthony, 
of  the  M.  E.  Church  South,  who,  after  an  interest- 
ing speech  by  Bishop  Campbell,  explanatory  of 
the  position  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  and  its  pros- 
pects, addressed  the  Conference.  Having  entered 
the  itineracy  in  1832,  he  could  speak  as  one  having 
authority, more  especially  as  he  had  traveled  through- 
out the  State  of  Georgia,  preaching  to  both  races 
during  these  years.  One  saying  he  placed  before 
the  young  men  worthy  of  being  treasured  up  in 
every  young  man's  heart  :  "  Let  the  young  men 
remember  that  the  greatest  of  all  blessings  is  piety, 
love  to  God  and  man." 

Seventeen  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial. 
Eight  deacons  were  elected  and  ordained,  and  one 
reobligated;  these  were  Rev.  John  Austin,  Daniel 
Jones,  Joseph  Collier,  [Marshall  Stephens,  Dawson 
George  Wilson,  Enoch  H.  Wilson,  Modern  Joseph 
Ingraham,  Jeremiah  Cox.  William  Williams  was 
re-obligated.  The  elders  elected  this  year  were 
James  F.  Campfield,  Marcus^R.  Granderson,  Daniel 
O.    Alexander,    Lewis    Cooper,    John    W.   Wynnr. 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS   OF  FREEDOM.      .  101 

Morgan  Smith,  Henry  H. Williams,  George  S.  Davis, 
Richard  Brooks,  Samuel  J.  Thomas.  James  F. 
Farrier  was  re-obligated  to  the  same  office. 

No  one  had  located,  no  one  had  withdrawn,  but 
Gabriel  Clark  had  died  at  the  three-score  limit 
of  life.  He  was  on  the  superannuated  list.  He  had 
been  a  member  of  the  church  for  45  years,  and  had 
preached  for  30  years.  He  had  joined  the  A.  M. 
E.  Church  at  the  Conference  in  Columbus,  in  1878. 
He  died  the  death  of  the  righteous,  and  went  home 
gladly  to  meet  his  wife  who  had  preceded  him. 

Rev.  Semenson  Gardener  was  transferred  from 
the  North  Georgia  Conference  to  this.  The  Com- 
mittees' reports  were  unusually  full  and  strong.  It 
was  claimed  with  every  justice  that  our  high  relig- 
ious position  was  but  the  result  of  Missionary  ef- 
fort— and  individual  effort  at  that — which  had  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  churches  in  almost 
every  State  of  the  Union.  It  was  as  justly  claimed 
that  the  growth  and  strength  of  the  church  must 
depend  upon  the  amount  of  territory  occupied, 
therefore  the  necessity  of  foreign  missions  and  an 
aggressive  policy,  such  as  is  used  by  other  denom- 
inations, so  as  to  keep  rank  with  the  workers  in 
the  great  Christian  field — the  world. 

The  Committee  "  on  the  Exodus,"  made  such  a 
pertinent  report  that,  if  space  permitted,  the  writer 
would  be  constrained,  in  view  of  the  present  agita- 
tion of  the  subject  by  both  races,  politicians,  literary 
men,  ministers  and  laymen,  to  present  it  as  a  whole, 
that  it  may  indicate  to  future  generations  the  atti- 


102        AFKICAN  METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

tude  of  their  forefathers  in  the  Empire  State  of  the 
South  at  a  time  when  sorely  pressed  by  the  conflict 
which  comes  when  a  race,  struggling  to  free  itself 
from  ignorance  and  vice,  presses  into  the  upper  air 
of  freedom,  equality  and  prosperity : 

"  The  subject  of  emigration  is  pregnant  of  vital' 
results,  and  has  engaged  the  attention  of  all  nations, 
not  merely  because,  as  the  old  maxim  has  it,  that  dis- 
tance lends  enchantment,  but  because  it  has  ever 
been  the  means  of  individual  and  social  advancement, 
to  mankind.  Waiving  any  interpretation  of  Cain's 
emigration  to  Nod,  we  might  say  that  the  measure 
was  inaugurated  at  the  foot  of  Babel's  cloud-piercing 
tower,  and  has  been  sanctioned  by  the  nations  of: 
antiquity  and  of  modern  times.  The  voice  of  history 
proclaims  the  wisdom  of  emigration,  viewed  from 
any  point  of  consideration,"  etc.,  etc. 

The  writer  could  not  wholly  endorse  the  views  set 
forth,  but  the  report  itself  was  a  remarkable  one,. 
bristling  with  historical  facts  in  proof  of  this  last  as- 
sertion. Some  wholesome  advice  was  also  tendered 
in  the  following  passage:  "If  our  people  desire  to 
emigrate,  they  ought  to  send  out  inspecting  agents,, 
or  write  the  Governor  of  the  State  for  maps,  charts- 
and  other  information."  The  principal  causes  set 
forth  were,  "political  persecution  and  the  poverty  of 
the  land." 

There  was  a  marked  increase  noticeable  among 
the  members  of  the  Conference  in  the  tendency  to- 
ward study,  and  the  report  on  Education  drew  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  this  tendency  was  not  confined 


OK  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FEEEDOM.      103 

to  the  ministry.  The  colored  population  throughout 
the  State,  and  especially  that  portion  presided  over 
by  the  Georgia  Conference,  was  on  the  road  of 
wonderful  progress,  as  a  whole. 

Our  Church  school — Wilberforce — was  looking 
toward  greater  usefulness,  and  the  Conference 
recognized  its  claim  to  each  minister's  hearty  sup- 
port in  pushing  forward  the  work. 

There  was  no  recommendation  this  year  from  the 
committee  for  another  Annual  Conference,  as  was 
expected  the  last  session,  but  various  changes  were 
made  in  circuits  and  stations,  which  had  reached 
already  an  unwieldy  number  to  properly  control  and 
provide  for. 

The  representatives  of  the  Methodist  Church,  as 
a  whole,  irrespective  of  slight  differences  in  titles, 
having  united  with  the  M.  E.  Church  in  the  erection 
of  a  Memorial  Chapel,  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  to  Rev. 
John  Wesley,  the  common  founder  of  the  church  in 
all  its  branches,  the  Conference  expressed  its  ap- 
proval of  the  work,  which  was  to  be  known  as 
Wesley  Memorial  Church,  and  recommended  the 
individual  aid  of  all  members  toward  its  completion. 
It  was  certainly  fitting  that  the  African  Methodists 
should  unite  with  the  others  in  raising  this  splendid 
memorial,  which  would  not  be  complete  in  its  idea 
without  their  hand  in  the  enterprise.  The  North 
Georgia  Conference  had  approved  the  plan  and 
pledged  financial  aid;  the  College  of  Bishops  had 
endorsed  it,  and  it  now  received  strong  advocacy 
with  the  Georgia  Conference  through  its  agent,  Dr. 


104  AFEICAIST   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

J.  O.  A.  Clark,  who,  being  unable  to  be  present  on 
account  of  illness,  wrote  an  urgent  appeal. 

It  was  a  step  toward  unity  of  the  various  Method- 
isms — unity  in  spirit,  at  least — and  an  effort  to  pre- 
serve not  only  this,  but  the  purity  of  true  Wesleyan 
Methodism.  Our  present  share  in  this  enterprise 
has  been  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  circum- 
stances attending  our  contributions. 

The  Presiding  Elders  stood  by  the  Bishop's  ap- 
pointment, as  follows,  for  the  ensuing  year:  Sa- 
vannah District,  Rev.  Henry  Strickland;  Thomas- 
ville,  District,  Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams;  Columbus 
District,  Rev.  E.  P.  Holmes;  Americus  District, 
Rev.  William  Raven;  Cuthbert  District,  Rev.  S. 
H.  Robertson;  Valdosta  District,  Rev.  J.  T.  Cray- 
ton;  Sandersville  District,  Rev.  S.  W.  Drayton; 
Albany  District,  Rev.  Henry  Porter. 

Our  beloved  Bishop  Campbell  had  been  with  us 
for  four  successful  years.  No  Bishop  that  ever  pre- 
sided over  the  Southern  States,  made  the  impression 
that  he  did  as  a  pulpit  orator.  He  swayed  all  au- 
diences, white  and  colored,  and  was  a  magnet  to 
draw  all  to  hear  him.  Dr.  J.  O.  A.  Clark,  himself 
one  of  the  ablest  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
South,  said,  on  hearing  him  preach  at  Macon  in 
1880,  that  he  was  to  be  compared  with  Bishop  Mar- 
vin and  Rev.  Munsey  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South. 

We  were  now  upon  the  verge  of  another  Gen- 
eral Conference,  and  a  brief  survey  of  some  of  the 
statistics  of  this  annual  Conference  may  not  be 
wholly    uninteresting.     Members    in    Society  were 


OE   TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FEEEDOtt.      105 

reported  as  16,772,  with  4,068  probationers,  as 
against  14,228  and  4,361  in  1876.  The  local 
preachers  had  increased  from  255  to  336  and  the 
number  of  churches  from  175  to  241,  their  value 
standing  as  $187,017.00  as  compared  with  $i57>- 
752.80,  with  36  parsonages  valued  at  $7,564.00  in- 
stead of  21.  The  Sunday-schools  numbered  263 
with  13,945  scholars,  291  superintendents,  738 
teachers  and  10,344  volumes  in  library,  against  190 
in  1876  with  10,099  scholars,  187  superintendents, 
520  teachers,  7,836  volumes.  In  moneys  raised  and 
distributed,  85,191.48  had  gone  for  support  of 
Presiding  Elders,  $21,673.57  for  pastors;  the  con- 
tingent money  raised  was  $13,490,  and  for  benevo- 
lence, $1,765.84,  as  against  $431.02  for  Presiding 
Elder's  salary,  $16,266.94  ^or  pastors,  $155.11  for 
contingent  and  $644.71  for  benevolence.  While 
the  Dollar  money  in  1876  reached  $2,010.50,  in 
1S80  it  was  $21,673.57,  and  the  Sunday-school 
money  which  was  then  $1,123.55  had  reached  $10,- 
344.  It  was  a  showing  of  no  mean  growth  in  four 
years.  From  six  presiding  elder  districts  we  had 
reached  eight,  and  no  member  of  the  Georgia 
Conference  had  need  to  feel  any  shame  when  the 
General  Conference  should  take  a  survey  of  the 
field  which  had  first  felt  the  ploughshare  of  the 
church  fourteen  years. 

Georgia  was  ready,  too,  for  what  followed  at  the 
deliberations  of  that  body  wrhich  recognized  the 
worth  of  her  men  of  might  when  it  placed  one  of 
her  foremost  sons  in  a  Bishop's  seat, — Dr.  H.  M. 


106        AFRICAN  METHODISM  EST  THE   SOUTH  ; 

Turner,  who  was  elected  on  the  first  ballot — a  place 
his  long  and  vigorous  labors  in  the  State  from  the 
inception  of  the  church  there  had  worthily  won  for 
him. 

African  Methodism  in  the  South  was  henceforth 
to  be  a  factor  of  immense  power,  when  R.  H.  Cain, 
of  South  Carolina,  another  strong  worker,  was 
placed  beside  him  on  the  third  ballot,  to  serve  the 
church  with  the  talented  Wm.  F.  Dickerson,  who 
was  elected  on  the  second  ballot,  both  of  whom 
were  to  be  called  so  soon  from  labor  to  reward,  a 
loss  to  the  church,  the  race,  humanity  and  the 
world  at  large. 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.      107 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BISHOP    DICKERSON'S    FIRST    WORK. 

In  the  year  1881,  the  first  Conference  to  convene 
was  that  of  North  Georgia,  which  assembled  in 
Wheat  Street  Church,  Atlanta,  January  5.  Rev. 
R.  A.  Hall  was  then  pastor  of  that  church. 

Bishop  Wm.  F.  Dickerson,  one  of  the  newly 
elected  Bishops  and  the  one  appointed  to  preside  for 
the  next  four  years  over  the  work  which  included 
Georgia,  was  present  to  open  the  session.  He  was 
alone,  as  his  predecessor,  Bishop  Campbell,  was 
unable  to  meet  him  there.  From  the  first,  Bishop 
Dickerson  began  his  work  systematically.  A  "Bus- 
iness Directory"  was  issued  to  each  member  of  the 
Conference,  and  all  business  conducted  according  to 
it.  He  also  immediately  called  the  attention  of 
Conference  to  another  matter  alluded  to  several 
times  in  this  volume.  In  stating  to  the  Conference 
the  prominence  of  the  State  of  Georgia  over  all 
other  States, — its  amount  of  taxation  upon  the  col- 
ored people  greater  than  in  any  ether, — and  then 
of  the  necessity  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Georgia  being  in  the  front  rank  in  eccle- 
siastical matters  as  becomes  the  only  Church  as  rep- 
resentative of  the  colored  race,  therefore  he  recom- 


108        AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN"  THE   SOUTH  ; 

mended  preparing  for  the  future  generation  some 
record  which  would  be  of  benefit  to  them  and  the 
church. 

By  this  measure  we  find  a  chronological  account 
inserted  in  the  Georgia  Minutes  after  this  date. 
This  gives  the  admission,  ordinations  and  appoint- 
ments of  the  ministers  composing  the  Conference, 
with  date  of  the  same.  For  this  wise  provision  the 
future  generations  will  give  hearty  thanks. 

The  enterprise  which  has  developed  into  Morris 
Brown  College  took  more  definite  form  in  the  shape 
of  resolutions  and  pledges  to  select  a  site  and  aid  in 
payment  for  it.  This  movement  received  most 
hearty  acceptance  and  promises  of  support.  The 
matter  was  then  referred  to  the  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, meeting  on  the  19th  inst.,  for  co-operation. 
At  this  date  our  educational  work  consisted  of  two 
normal  high  schools, — at  Cartersville  and  Sparta 
— under  our  direct  jurisdiction. 

At  one  of  the  sessions  of  this  Conference  Bishop 
Dickerson  stated  that  he  came  to  his  work  in  the 
South  with  many  leading  ideas,  of  which  two  were 
especially  prominent  in  his  thoughts — "promulga- 
tion of  Christian  education  and  the  spread  of  Mis- 
sionary work  among  his  people.  He  held  it  was 
not  color  that  made  the  negro  inferior,  but  ignorance 
and  poverty;  that  education  and  opulence  would 
break  down  all  barriers  in  the  future. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Education  was 
adopted  when  brought  in,  and  enthusiasm  raised  to 
that  pitch  that  it  seemed  a  small  thing  to  appropri- 


OE  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF  FEEEDO^I.        109 

ate  eight  hundred  dollars  as  the  first  payment  toward 
the  prospective  school  from  this  one  Conference.  It 
was  news  to  gladden  our  hearts  that  a  high  normal 
school  was  to  be  built  for  us  also  at  Eatonton. 
Surely  the  day  of  great  things  was  about  to  dawn 
upon  us. 

But  four  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial:  Daniel 
Strickland,  W.  H.  Harrison,  E.  Roberts, James  Lake» 
Twelve  deacons  and  fourteen  elders  were  elected 
and  ordained.  The  former  were  Reuben  L.  Law- 
son,  John  F.  Belsaw,  Wm.  Ivy,  Edward  Dillard, 
Richard  Butts.  John  J.  Belt,  Madison  D.  Brookens, 
Richard  M.Smith,  Leonard  G.  Gary,  Preston  B. 
Peters,  Wm.  H.  Heard,  Jordan  R.  Gay.  The  El- 
ders were  Aaron  S.  Jackson,  Sandy  S.  Lester,  Wm. 
Duncan,  Howard  T.  Cargill,  Milton  N.  Nelson, 
Matthew  Taylor,  Oscar  A.  Waddle,  Hillard  D. 
Bush,  Peter  Cruse,  Washington  Campbell,  B.  R. 
Glass,  Wm.  L.  Bowdre,  S.  A.  Bush  and  J.  H.  King 
were  re-obligated. 

A.  R.  Spencer  withdrew  this  year,  and  Joshua  D. 
Hall  had  died.  One  thing  noticeable  is  the  few 
losses  which  occur  by  withdrawal  from  us.  Georgia 
has  suffered  but  little  from  this,  and  experience  goes 
to  show  that  the  same  is  true  in  other  States. 
Brother  Hall  was  on  Monroe  County  Circuit  at  his 
death. 

The  sermons  of  this  session,  as  a  whole,  were  re- 
markable, given  as  they  were  upon  the  Sabbath 
by  the  Bishop  presiding,  Rev.  J.  M.  Townsend,  cor- 
responding secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  and 


110        AFEICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH; 

the  writer  at  Bethel  Church;  Revs.  C.  H.  Boyd,  J. 
B.  Lofton  and  J.  A.  Davis  at  Wood's  Chapel;  Revs. 
Washington  Campbell,  M.  E.  Cox  and  A.  S.  Jack- 
son at  Shiloh  Church;  Revs.  J.  B.  Warner  and  H. 
T.  Cargill  at  the  First  Congregational  church; 
Revs.  J.  R.  Gay,  W.  H.  Heard  and  L.  G.  Gary  at 
St.  Paul's  Chapel;  and  Revs.  C.  S.  Green,  W.  C. 
Warren,  J.  F.  Brown  at  the  M.  E.  Church.  Decatur 
street  church  was  supplied  by  Revs.  Matthews  Tay- 
lor, Edward  Dillard  and  others.  They  were  listened 
to  by  many  of  the  white  citizens,  among  them  His 
Excellency,  Gov.  A.  H.  Colquitt,  Revs.  J.  W. 
Heidt  and  C.  A.  Evans,  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South. 
The  exercises  of  the  Sabbath-school  were  especially 
pleasing  with  essays  from  even  the  little  children. 

Gov.  Colquitt  and  Rev.  C.  A.  Evans  visited  the 
Conference  the  following  day,  and  made  remarks 
which  were  full  of  brotherly  kindness  and  cheer. 

The  reports  from  the  Presiding  Elders  were  en- 
couraging, the  spiritual  and  temporal  advancement 
going  on  hand  in  hand  in  nearly  all  cases.  Some 
new  points  have  been  added  to  the  Atlanta  District 
under  P.  E.  Richard  Graham.  A  total  of  two 
thousand  twelve  hundred  and  forty  dollars  made  up 
the  Dollar  Money. 

The  transfers  consisted  of  Rev.  S.  B.  Jones,  John 
Whittaker  and  J.  H.  King  to  the  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, and  Rev.  R.  Harper  to  the  Tennessee  Con- 
ference. 

January  19th  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference  as- 
sembled in  session  in  St.  Philip's  A.  M.  E.  Church, 


OE  TWENTY-FIVE   YEAES   OF   FREEDOM.       Ill 

Savannah,  again,  the  second  time  since  the  division 
of  the  old  Conference.  Bishop  Wm.  F.  Dickerson 
opened  the  session  with  most  impressive  exercises, 
taking,  as  the  two  lessons  from  Scripture,  Jonah  III. 
and  James  I.  He  made  a  special  note  of  the  first 
lesson,  saying  that  "it  makes  a  great  difference  as 
to  what  preaching  we  preach  and  who  bids  us  to 
preach."  He  emphatically  stated  that  satan  some- 
times suggests  a  text  to  the  minister,  and  it  is  no 
wonder  that  failure  follows.  Then  again  he  showed 
that  instead  of  preaching  what  God  bids,  there  are 
some  men  who  are  so  unmerciful  they  would  stand 
between  the  mercy  of  God  and  the  sinner. 

Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  the  pioneer  minister,  now 
honored  by  elevation  to  the  Episcopacy,  was  with 
us  again  in  his  new  office,  to  speak  words  of  encour- 
agement to  those  with  whom  he  had  been  so  long 
associated.  It  was  very  appropriate  that  he  should 
be  the  one  to  review  the  history  of  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference under  the  successive  administrations  of 
Bishops  D.  A.  Payne,  John  M.  Brown,  F.  M.  D. 
Ward  and  J.  P.  Campbell,  not  forgetting  the  service 
of  Bishop  A.  W .  Wayman  in  the  place  of  the  senior 
Bishop,  during  his  protracted  absence  abroad.  A 
very  appreciative  tribute  was  paid  to  each — to  their 
character  as  Christian  gentlemen,  and  to  their  labors, 
of  which  the  present  prosperous  tide  of  affairs  was 
the  outcome.  Then  with  a  heartiness  of  manner 
and  a  kindliness  of  feeling,  which  was  echoed  in  all 
hearts  present,  he  introduced  the  presiding  Bishop 
for  the  next  quadrennium.   The  ceremony  of  formal 


112        AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN  THE   SOUTH  ; 

introduction  was  reciprocated  by  the  new  Bishopr 
and  the  compliments  gracefully  and  cordially  re- 
turned, when  he  stated  his  intention  to  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  first  introducing  to  the  Conference,  not 
Elder  nor  Dr.  Turner,  but  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner. 
Thus  with  hearty  and  great  good  will  the  two  newly 
elected  Bishops  were  received  by  the  Georgia  An- 
nual Conference  of  1881. 

The  business  of  the  meeting  first  brought  the 
election  of  Secretaries,  which  was  simply  a  re-elec- 
tion of  those  who  had  so  faithfully  served  us  in  1880, 
Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  with  Rev.  James  Porter  and 
Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson. 

The  Rev.  J.  M.  Townsend  and  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M. 
Arnett,  the  new  Financial  Secretary,  were  two  prom- 
inent and  welcome  visitors  of  the  Conference,  while 
South  Carolina  and  North  Georgia  were  also  rep- 
resented in  the  persons  of  Rev.  J.  E.  Hayne,  L.  D. 
Chairs  and  M.  B.  Salters  from  the  former,  and  Rev. 
W.  H.  Harris,  Richard  Graham  and  the  writer  from 
North  Georgia. 

The  reports  from  the  districts  rolled  up  a  total  of 
two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eight  dollars  and  nine- 
ty-three cents — this  from  eight  districts,  Columbus 
District  bringing  the  largest  sum,  five  thousand 
and  fifteen  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents. 

Presiding  Elder  G.  W.  H.  Williams  gave  the 
Annual  Sermon  from  the  text:  Lam.  4:2,  "The 
precious  sons  of  Zion  comparable  to  fine  gold." 
He  presented  his  subject  in  the  statement  that  Zion 
was  built  upon  a  hill  and  fortified  with  a  wall;  the 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  113. 

-church  is  built  upon  the  rock  Christ  Jesus,  and  its 
walls  are  salvation.  Both  are  citadels  of  strength, 
and  the  church  can  only  be  betrayed  by  an  enemy 
from  within.  The  duty  of  the  Christian  was  plainly 
pointed  out,  and  the  true  child  of  God,  with  a  heart 
filled  with  His  grace,  was  likened  to  the  gold  of  the 
realm,  engraved  by  grace,  and  with  the  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  so  that  years  of  conflict  and  trials  have 
only  brightened  them  as  testimony  of  the  truth  of 
salvation. 

It  was  a  strong  sermon  with  the  central  point, 
that  of  salvation — its  priceless  cost  which  made  the 
sons  of  God  so  precious — then  sent  home  to  each 
heart  by  the  use  to  which  such  should  be  put. 

The  statistical  reports  occupied  some  time,  then 
the  transfers  were  announced,  being  Rev.  S.  B. 
Jones  and  John  Whittaker  from  the  North  Georgia 
Conference. 

Visitors  were  plentiful,  and  kept  up  the  interest 
of  the  session  by  letting  the  Conference  know  how 
much  fraternal  feeling  after  all  exists  in  this  world. 

We  have  been  told  somewhere  that  when  we 
read  the  history  of  all  ages  we  are  shocked  to  see 
how  the  times  seem  to  have  been  most  troublous. 
The  printed  page  is  so  full  of  great  wars  and  blood- 
shed, of  all  the  dark  and  gloomy  horrors,  that  we 
are  inclined  to  think  that  nothing  else  has  occurred. 
We  forget  that,  as  in  the  present,  these  are  the 
things  which  history  records  in  black  and  white — the 
startling    things  are  handed  down  to  us,  leaving  the 

8 


114  AFRICAN   METHODSM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

thousands  of  the  common  every-day  deeds  of  hu- 
manity, with  their  ministry  for  good  to  be  unrecog- 
nized and  unpenned  for  posterity  to  read. 

This  is  why  the  writer,  in  the  times  that  have 
brought  sore  trials  to  the  negro  race  in  America, 
from  the  day  of  freedom,  desires  to  note  with  kindly 
good- will  the  many  oases  in  the  desert  of  its  life 
and  growth  throughout  these  years,  in  order  that 
justice,  that  omnipotent  power  in  the  years  of  time 
and  the  beginning  of  eternity,  be  done  to  all  at  his 
hands.  We  have  lived  and  suffered  countless  things;, 
we  have  had  enemies,  and  have  them  still;  we  have 
been  surrounded  by  almost  impenetrable  barriers,, 
and  confronted  at  every  turn  by  soul-stinging  looks, 
words  and  acts;  but  through  it  all  we  must  pay 
honest  and  honorable  tribute  to  any  one  who  has, 
made  the  way  less  stony,  has  lighted  our  path  or 
lifted  our  burdens,  ofttimes  by  diverting  the  scorn 
upon  their  own  heads.  Justice  demands  it.  We 
demand  justice.     Let  us  all  be  just. 

The  resolution  offered  by  Elder  S.  H.  Robertson, 
that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  act  with  that  of 
the  North  Georgia  Conference  concerning  the  col- 
lege site,  was  referred  to  the  regular  committee  on 
that  point.  After  the  meeting  of  this  joint  com- 
mittee the  report  was  made  to  the  body  in  session. 
As  it  embodies  the  efforts  of  several  years  toward 
something  tangible  in  the  way  of  a  school  in  Geor- 
gia, which  should  enter  the  field  to  do  the  work  for 
the  race  remaining  there  for  us  to  do,  we  consider 
it  of  interest  enough  to  the  future,  at  least,  that  it 
be  inserted  verbatim. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  115- 

"  To  the  Bishop  and   Conference  : 

"  Brethren— We,  the  undersigned  College  Trus- 
tees of  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference,  have  the 
honor  to  report  that  we  met  the  College  Trustees 
of  the  North  Georgia  Annual  Conference  (or  a 
portion  of  them  authorized  to  act  for  the  rest)  in 
joint  session  this  day  at  1 130  p.  m. 

"  Rev.  W.  J.  Gaines  informed  the  brethren  of  the 
action  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  in  nego- 
tiating for  the  purchase  of  6o}4  acres  of  land,  high 
and  beautifully  situated,  in  the  city  limits,  with  a 
comfortable  house,  having  four  rooms  ready  for  im- 
mediate use.  He  asked  our  concurrence.  Rev.  C. 
L.  Bradwell  said  he  was  present,  and  testified  to  the 
unanimity  of  the  brethren  and  Trustees  of  the 
North  Georgia  Conference,  and  heartily  endorsed 
their  action ;  whereupon  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  we  do  concur  in  the  action  of  the 
brethren  and  Trustees  of  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference, and  suggest  that  the  amount  of  six  hun- 
dred dollars  be  contributed  out  of  the  percentage  or 
other  Conference  money  to  aid  in  the  purchase 
of  the  same. 

"  And  we  recommend  that  the  Trustees  meet  as- 
early  as  possible  to  elect  officers  and  purchase  the 
site.  Respectfully, 

"  E.  P.    Holmes,    Chairman, 
C.  L.  Bradwell, 
S.  H.  Robertson, 
G.  W.  H.  Williams, 
J.  W.  Wynn, 
Henry  Strickland, 
William  Raven, 
Wm.  D.  Johnson, 
W.  C.  Gaines, 
W.  H.  Powell, 
James   Porter,  Secretary.'" 


116  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

The  Committee  on  Education  also  expressed  it- 
self as  "  believing  that  the  time  is  fully  ripe  for  es- 
tablishing an  institution  for  higher  education,  under 
the  charge  of  the  Georgia  Conference,  and  we  urge 
upon  each  minister,  member  and  friend  of  our 
church  the  necessity  of  supporting  the  action  of  the 
North  Georgia  Conference,  and  our  own,  looking 
to  the  establishment  of  a  College  or  University  in 
Atlanta,  Ga." 

It  was  also  wisely  recommended  that  each  minis- 
ter and  family  in  our  bounds  be  induced  to  educate 
our  children  in  our  day-schools  and  Sunday-schools. 

With  all  this  as  an  impetus,  the  work  of  educa- 
tion was  in  a  fair  way  to  go  forward  in  new  lines. 
The  other  points  suggested  by  this  last  committee 
are  well  worth  mentioning  here.  Each  minister  and 
family  was  urged  to  take  the  church  paper,  and 
some  daily  newspaper,  while  all  were  earnestly 
pressed  to  patronize  our  publishing  department,  and 
those  of  ou'-  people  who  may  publish  books  and 
pamphlets  upon  useful  subjects.  Similar  ideas  were 
brought  out  when  the  Committee  on  Sunday-schools 
reported. 

In  connection  with  the  educational  movement 
many  good  things  were  said.  Among  them  Rev. 
S.  B.  Jones  recalled  the  time  when  he  joined  the 
Conference  in  this  city.  He  referred  to  the  vener- 
able Bishop  Payne,  who  was  then  occupying  the 
chair,  and  who,  with  his  usual  determination  upon 
the  subject  of  ministerial  education,  said  in  reference 
to    the    question    of    admission,  "  Don't   bring    any 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  117 

men  to  me  who  do  not  know  what  the  canonical 
Scriptures  are."  There  is  not  a  man  in  the  A.  M. 
E.  Church,  knowing  our  beloved  and  now  venera- 
ble apostle  of  education,  who  does  not  know  the 
vigorous  insistence  which  he  has  maintained  in  this 
line — an  educated  ministry,  and  who  cannot  appre- 
ciate how  much  many  men  have  owed  to  this  very 
insistence,  for  it  has  been  the  means  of  spurring  on 
many  a  laggard  to  do  what  he  was  capable  of  do- 
ing, and,  it  may  be  added,  of  keeping  back  the  men 
who  were  either  indolent  or  incapable  of  proper 
preparation  for  the  greatest  work  on  earth;  so  it 
will  not  be  surprising  to  any  of  these  to  know  of 
the  consternation  of  some  of  that  Conference  who 
exclaimed  as  Brother  Jones  said  he  did  upon  hear- 
ing this  statement  from  the  Bishop's  lips:  "My 
God,  what  is  that!" 

Yet  when  we  think  of  it,  it  is  not  strange  that 
among  the  older  men  of  that  day  there  was  much  to 
be  learned,  but  Bishop  Payne  rigidly  adhered  to 
the  requirement  that  the  necessary  things  should  be 
learned.  Even  now  when  the  lightof  knowledge 
pours  its  beams  so  clearly  on  every  pathway,  that 
the  one  who  would  preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified 
must  need  be  almost  blind  if  he  see  not  and 
learn  not,  there  are  some — shall  it  be  said  there  are 
many  ? — who  would  to-day  join  in  the  same  ex- 
clamation to  which  Brother  Jones  gave  utterance; 

Praise  God,  our  children  indeed  will  not  have  the 
shadow  of  a  righteous  occasion  to  ask  such  a  ques- 
tion! 


118  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

A  further  spur  to  the  movement  Gf  education 
had  been  given  by  the  constitution  of  the  Educa- 
tional Department  which  was  drawn  up  and  adopted 
by  the  Bishops  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  at  their 
meeting  in  Newport,  R.  L,  August,  1880.  This  new 
work  provided  for  was  to  be  known  as  the  "  Con- 
ventional Literary,  Historic  and  Educational  Asso- 
ciation of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,"  and  its  object  as 
stated  was  "the  cultivation  of  literature  and  the  study 
of  history  and  the  promotion  of  Christian  education." 
This  constitution  also  provided  for  the  organization 
of  this  branch  of  society  educational  work  in  the 
churches  throughout  the  Convention. 


•OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  119 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


A    YEAR    OF     INTEREST. 


On  the  second  day  of  this  session  the  Conference 
resolved  itself  into  a  grand  Missionary  Meeting, 
which  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett  opened.  He  was  followed 
by  Bishop  W.  F.  Dickerson,  who,  after  a  few  earn- 
est words  upon  the  work  of  our  Home  and  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  and  the  fields  of  labor,  together 
with  the  interest  which  was  apparently  deepening 
each  year  throughout  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  intro- 
duced Rev.  J.  M.  Townsend,  who  read  his  Mission- 
ary Report. 

He  presented  the  state  of  our  missionary  enter- 
prise as  encouraging,  though,  like  all  such  enterprises, 
needing  the  steady  financial  aid  that  only  complete 
organized  effort  can  vitalize  and  render  most  efficient 
in  accomplishing  great  results.  There  were  in 
Hayti  the  Rev.  C.  U.  Missell  and  his  wife — who 
have  since  departed  to  the  spirit  land,  broken  down 
by  the  sacrifices  there  for  the  cause  of  the  Redeemer. 
These  with  the  two  preachers  he  had  employed  to 
assist  him,  constituted  our  force  in  the  interesting 
tfield  of  that  tropical  island.  Rev.  A.  Flegler,  in 
.Africa,  was  reported  as  meeting  with   great  success 


120  AFRICAN   METHODISM  IN   THE   SOUTH  ) 

in  his  endeavors,  assisted  by  three  local  preachers,,, 
to  spread  the  gospel  in  the  name  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church. 

Nearer  home,  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner  was  presiding 
over  the  field  in  the  Indian  Territory,  where  there 
was  a  population  of  thirty  thousand  colored  people 
and  a  Conference  of  sixteen  ministers,  all  doing  a  glo- 
rious work. 

It  was  the  old  appeal  which  the  earnest  Secretary 
of  this  Department  of  our  Church  made  to  move 
hearts  to  contribute  their  mites  toward  the  work. 
How  much  good  has  been  done  for  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom  by  these  mites  of  both  poor  and  rich,  toward 
saving  the  world  of  mankind,  we  shall  only  know  at 
the  great  last  day,  when  the  redeemed  shall  be  gath- 
ered from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  May 
our  Missionary  work  gain  ground  each  year. 

Bishop  H.  M.  Turner  preached  a  magnificent  ser- 
mon in  accordance  with  the  Missionary  appeal,  and 
at  its  conclusion  Bishop  Dickerson  announced  that 
Bishop  Turner  had  been  appointed  to  visit  Africa. 
This  served  to  render  the  latter  the  recipient  of  nu- 
merous letters  from  both  young  men  and  women 
announcing  themselves  ready  to  become  mission- 
aries if  only  a  little  support  could  be  provided.  This 
is  the  true  missionary  spirit,  and  it  is  growing  in  our 
Church. 

The  Temperance  cause,  of  which  we  shall  have  oc- 
casion to  speak  at  length  in  another  chapter,  received 
strong  support  in  able,  eloquent  and  witty  speeches- 
from  Revs.  G.  B.  Reed,   Irwin  Butler,   S.  C.  Powell,. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  121 

Henry  Strickland,  S.  W.  Drayton,  Prince  Gadsen,. 
as  well  as  by  Revs.  C.  L.  Bradwell,  W.  C.  Gaines,. 
S.  B.  Jones,  G.  W.  Gamble,  Isaac  Coachman  and 
others,  Bishop  Dickerson  closing  with  the  thrilling 
remark  to  the  effect  that  no  minister,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  intoxicating  drinks,  could  glorify  God. 
The  hymn  which  was  afterwards  sung  was  most  ap- 
propriate : 

"  Help  me  to  watch  and  pray,"  etc. 

One  of  the  features  of  the  Conference  was  the 
sermon  by  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett.  It  was  one  of  the 
pithy,  forcible  sermons  which  this  brother  in  Christ 
is  so  well  adapted  to  give,  and  one  which,  with  every 
true  believer  in  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
will  remain  long  as  food  for  meditation.  The  young 
may  well  pause  when  the  words  of  wisdom  fall  from 
the  lips  of  the  elders.  Be  they  never  so  wise  in  this 
day  and  generation,  experience  and  long  years  of 
labor  have  taught  that  which  youth  can  never  have 
until  it,  too,  has  passed  through  the  trials  by  fire  and 
become  purified  and  strengthened  by  the  ordeal. 

This  sermon  was  a  masterly  presentation  of  the 
argument  that  revealed  religion  is  superior  to  natu- 
ral religion  ;  and  it  appealed  to  both  head  and  heart, 
as  a  sermon  should.  It  was  not  a  mere  display  of 
emotional  oratory,  though  it  was  a  masterpiece  of  fer- 
vid eloquence  ;  but  irrefutable  facts  were  given  and 
statements  made,  boldly  challenging  the  unbeliever  to 
the  proof  of  that  which  would  warrant  such  a  posi- 
tion. Ah,  it  is  true  that  not  even  an  Ingersoll  can 
shake  the   soul  that  is   deep-rooted  in  the  faith  of  a. 


122  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

Redeemer — in  the  inspired  writings  of  that  Book  of 
books. 

What  we  need  are  young  men  who  will  enter  the 
ministry  with  all  their  native  talents  strengthened 
and  broadened  by  that  which  was  denied  to  the  older 
brethren — a  full  and  comprehensive  education — and 
then  to  devote  all  to  the  hourly  service  of  the  Master, 
counting  each  day  lost  which  does  not  see  some  one 
nearer  the  kingdom  than  before  through  their  minis- 
trations. 

Right  in  this  connection,  the  opening  events  of 
one  of  the  day  sessions  lead  to  quoting  some  of  the 
brethren's  remarks  upon  the  subject  of  quoting  other 
men's  sermons.  There  is  too  great  a  tendency  at 
times  to  be  carried  away  by  the  eloquence  and  learn- 
ing of  others,  so  much  so  as  to  forget  one's  self,  to 
be  carried  out  of  one's  self,  we  ought  to  say,  and 
this  danger  is  especially  present  to  bright,  receptive 
minds  which  readily  grasp  all  the  meteors  of  thought 
that  flash  upon  the  mental  horizon  from  any  quarter 
and  store  them  away — of ttimes  unconsciously — for  fu- 
ture use,  when  without  change  of  form  they  are 
launched  forth  as  their  own  fiery  missiles — again 
■ofttimes  unconsciously — having  lain  within  the  mind 
-so  long,  so  many  times  recurring  to  it,  that  they  have 
become  a  part  of  it. 

Good  preaching,  fiery  illustrations,  sharp  thrusts 
of  the  sword  of  the  spirit  are  all  enjoyable  and  do 
valiant  service  for  the  Master ;  but  do  not  let  the 
young  men  think  a  patchwork  sermon,  a  conglomer- 
ation of  the  readily  apparent  fireworks  of  another,  to 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  123 

be  that  which  is  most  effective  or  wholly  without 
suspicion — that  which  we  are  bound  to  speak 
sooner  or  later.  Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell's  amus- 
ing anecdote  is  peculiarly  apt  at  this  point.  He 
gives  the  credit  of  its  origin,  as  far  as  he  knows, 
to  Father  Bentley,  one  of  the  old  members  of 
St.    Philip's   Church  in  Savannah  : 

"A  crow  was  admiring  the  peacocks  upon  their  pa- 
rade ground  and  determined  that  he  would  be  a  pea- 
cock. He  found  out  their  sleeping  place  and  after 
picking  up  all  the  waste  feathers,  retired  and  fixed 
himself  up  with  the  plumage  thus  appropriated,  by 
pulling  out  his  own  feathers  and  replacing  them  by 
the  gayer  ones  he  had  taken.  Then  he  joined  the 
other  peacocks  upon  the  parade  ground.  When  the 
line  was  formed,  the  question  was  asked,  '  Are  they 
all  peacocks  here?'  The  answer  was,  'They  are.' 
But  there  was  a  little  peacock  that  had  aroused  sus- 
picion, and  they  concluded  to  examine  each  one  by 
pulling  at  his  feathers.  When  they  came  to  our 
hero  his  feathers  all  came  out  and  he  was  neither  a 
crow  nor  a  peacock."  The  brother  pointed  the  moral 
to  his  tale  in  the  observation,  "Just  so  in  the  long 
run  it  will  be  with  a  preacher  who  borrows  his  ser- 
mons." 

The  young  brethren  who  read  this  may  not  be 
able  to  cope  with  a  Bishop  Arnett  in  imagination 
-and  forceful  expression,  or  with  a  Bishop  Payne  in 
the  depths  of  scholarly  learning  which  his  seventy- 
nine  years  of  labor  have  garnered  for  him,  but  they 
may  learn  how  to  use,  as  they,  in  the  legitimate  way, 


124  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

the  treasures  of  thought,  the  nuggets  of  wisdom 
which  are  to  be  mined  from  the  univeise  of  others" 
learning  and  experience,  and  thus  add  to  their  own 
store — enriching,  not  substituting,  adorning,  not 
masking. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  time  when  all  were  urged 
to  stand  upon  their  own  merits. 

The  difficulty  which  some  ministers  have  in  col- 
lecting dollar  money  might  be  largely  overcome  if 
they  would  but  systematically  and  faithfully  follow 
Bishop  Dickerson's  suggestion  when  he,  "in  answer" 
to  a  question  which  brought  out  his  decision — the 
same  made  by  Bishop  Campbell  at  previous  meetings 
— added,  "While  it  is  true  that  no  one  who  refuses 
to  pay  that  money  can  hold  an  official  position  in  any 
of  our  churches,  the  preachers  in  charge  must  show 
the  people  not  only  that  the  law  requires  it,  but  he 
must  give  the  reasons  why  it  ought  to  be  collected — 
show  that  "Jesus  is  in  that  dollar."  That  is  what  is 
wanted  everywhere  :  to  show  that  Jesus  is  in  one  of 
the  best  systems  we  have  ever  had  by  which  we  may 
carry  on  our  Church  work — Jesus  Christ's  work. 

The  Sabbath  ritualistic  services  prepared  for  our 
Church  were  introduced  for  the  first  time  in  St. 
Philips  A.  M.  E.  Church  Jan.  23d,  upon  which 
occasion  all  listened  to  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Samuel 
W.  Drayton,  begotten  of  the  spirit ;  and  at  the 
conclusion,  in  a  ceremony  most  beautiful  and  ex- 
perience, the  Bishop  ordained  the  following  young 
men  to  the  office  of  Deacon  :  J.  H.  Adams,  W.  O. 
P.  Sherman  and  James  R.  Bennett.     The  ordination. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  125 

-of  Elders  took  place  at  3  p.  m.  after  a  strong  sermon 
to  the  great  congregation  by  the  Bishop,  closing 
with  the  stirring  appeal,  "Brethren,  study  to  preach 
Christ.  Live  Christ,  suffer  with  Christ,  and  then  at 
the  close  of  your  labors  reign  with  Christ  in 
glory.  He  hath  said,  '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world.'  Preach  Him  then, 
preach  Him  to  all  and  cry  in  death,  '  Behold,  be- 
hold the  Lamb.'  " 

Rev.  Sandy  D.  Roseborough  was  ordained  to  the 
-office  of  Elder,  and  Revs.  J.  B.  K.  Butler  and  H.  M. 
Miller,  who  came  to  us  in  regular  standing  from  the 
Baptist  church,  were  re-obligated.  At  7:30  p.  u., 
Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  preached  from  the  text, 
Jeremiah  ix  :  23-24,  "  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in 
his  wisdom,  etc." — a  fitting  climax  to  the  trio  of  ser- 
mons which  made  the  day  memorable  to  all  who 
heard. 

As  all  those  things  looking  toward  unity  are  desir- 
able things  by  all,  we  find  at  this  Conference  two 
gentlemen  of  Chatham  County  Sunday-school  Asso- 
ciation, who  made  earnest  remarks  in  the  interest  of 
organizing  a  State  Sunday-school  Convention  to 
meet  next  spring,  which  organization  looked  toward 
representation  in  the  International  Sunday-school 
Convention. 

The  year's  studies  were  represented  by  a  gratify- 
ing report.  A  rigidity  of  system  disclosed  itself  and 
those  brethren  who  failed  to  pass  from  one  year  to 
another  were  vastly  comforted,  by  this  fact,  and  the 
assurance  that  the  standard  of  work  was  rising-  so 


126  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

that  they  really  stood  comparatively  on  a  higher 
plane  than  many  predecessors  at  the  same  stages. 
heretofore. 

Our  Home  Missions  were  found  to  be  this  year,,, 
where  Home  Missions  most  assuredly  ought  not  to,- 
be— in  a  state  of  precarious  dependence  for  their 
support.  Over  three  hundred  preachers  and  uncer- 
tain subsistence  !  It  was  something  to  appall  us,  for 
surely  while  the  gospel  may  be  spiritual  meat  and 
drink,  yet  nowhere  are  we  bidden  to  place  our  ser- 
vants in  the  field,  and  then  placidly  expect  them  to 
sustain  their  corporeal  existence  upon  it  alone.  We 
can  do  no  less  than  see  that  ravens  carry  to  them 
the  staff  of  life.  Hayti,  Africa  and  our  Indian  Mis- 
sion all  deserve  our  earnest,  prayerful,  substantial 
recognition.  Yet  the  South  has  done  its  share,  con- 
sidering how  short  a  time  since  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
passed  from  a  mission  field  itself  into  self-supporting 
independence.  We  have  to  grow  slowly,  perhaps,  if 
it  would  be  surely,  but  sustenance  is  a  prime  neces- 
sity to  all  growth. 

Then,  too,  in  order  to  grow  the  children  must  be 
led  along  with  us.  This  fact  was  earnestly  placed 
before  us  in  a  plea  for  the  children.  Our  present. 
Sunday-school  Department  was  not  then  organized, 
but  the  church  in  the  South  has  been  made  to  feel, 
with  every  meeting  that  which  was  so  especially  em- 
phasized at  a  North  Georgia  Conference  some  years 
later  (1884)  when  Bishop  F.  M.  D.  Ward  made  this- 
statement :  "  The  A.  M.  E.  Church  to-day  labors, 
under  a  mighty   necessity.     The   Roman   Catholics. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  127 

have  enrolled  at  the  South  over  200,000  of  our 
children.  We  must  go  out  after  our  children,  go  for 
them  in  earnest  and  go  for  them  now,"  adding,  "  Let 
the  Morris  Brown  College  in  Atlanta  be  used  as  a 
perpetual  monument  of  the  energy  and  devotion 
of  the  fathers  who  builded  better  than  they  knew." 

When  we  think  of  the  fact  that  there  are  in  the 
South  fully  fifty  schools  and  colleges  backed  by  other 
denominations,  we  can  see  only  one  thing — that  all 
are  reaching  after  the  children  and  youth.  We  must 
be  up  and  doing  or  else  give  them  up,  and  that  sug- 
gestion every  African  Methodist  will  answer,  No! 

But  to  carry  out  this  plan  of  drawing  in  our  chil- 
dren, we  must  be  impressed  by  the  statements  made 
in  one  of  the  reports :  "  The  church  will  not  be 
just  what  it  ought  to  be  until  more  time  is  spent 
with  the  Sunday-school.  If  you  want  an  educated 
ministry  such  as  God  will  be  pleased  with,  and  the 
world  cannot  deny,  train  them  up  in  the  Sunday- 
school.  If  you  want  Stewards,  Trustees,  Class- 
leaders,  and  members  who  will  do  their  whole  duty,, 
train  them  up  in  the  Sunday-school.  You  must  not 
be  afraid  to  teach  them  African  Methodism — teach 
them  to  know  that  is  the  name  of  this  church  and. 
why  it  is  so  called,  and  why  they  ought  to  love  and 
support  it.  Teach  them  how  to  save  church  money.. 
When  this  is  done  Macon,  Savannah,  Columbus  and. 
Atlanta  will  not  be  the  only  good  points.  The 
reason  why  the  church  fails  to  take  care  of  the  maru 
is  because  the  man  fails  to  take  care  of  the  church." 

These  closing  statements  contain  some  significant 


128  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

truths.  Neither  are  they  limited  to  the  State  of 
Georgia.  If  we  wish  prosperity,  if  we  wish  increase, 
if  we  wish  God's  blessing  to  descend  richly  upon  the 
church  of  our  Fathers,  we  must  reach  out  for  the 
•children,  not  forcibly,  but  reasonably,  and  magneti- 
cally draw  them  in  and  hold  them  in  her  arms  until 
they  have  reached  the  age  at  least  when  they  can 
wisely  be  trusted  to  choose  their  own  faith.  Be 
assured  there  will  be  but  few  straying  from  our  fold 
if  this  be  wisely  done. 

The  committee  which  had  been  appointed  upon 
Division  of  Conference  failed  to  find  anything  to 
report,  as  the  majority  of  the  committee  from  the 
North  Georgia  Conference  were  unable  to  meet,  and 
the  work  was  therefore  continued  to  the  first  Wed- 
nesday in  May,  when  the  committee  were  to  re-as- 
semble in  the  city  of  Macon.  The  joint  Conference 
Committee  upon  College  Site  were  more  successful. 
The  writer  had  informed  the  session  that  the  brethren 
of  North  Georgia  had  unanimously  acted  and  nego- 
tiated for  the  purchase  of  what  is  now  Morris  Brown 
College.  The  Conference  suggested  that  six  hun- 
dred dollars  be  contributed  to  this  effort  for  higher 
education  in  the  State,  as  had  been  done  by  the 
North  Georgia  Conference. 

Brother  Waddy  Parks,  in  the  prime  of  life,  was  cut 
off  by  the  hand  of  death — the  only  member  of  the 
Georgia  work  aside  from  Rev.  J.  D.  Hall  of  North 
Georgia. 

A  new  feature  of  the  Georgia  Conference  this  year 
was  the  shape  in  which  the  Presiding  Elders'  Reports 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  129 

were  placed  and  made  a  part  of  the  printed  minutes. 
Had  the  church  as  a  whole  a  systematic  record  of  its 
specific  churches,  history  would  be  greatly  aided  in 
accuracy.  Only  such  detailed  descriptions  of  the 
life  and  work  of  the  most  insignificant  station  from 
its  origin  can  make  it  so.  Bvt  we  grow  with  the 
years  in  all  things,  and  all  early  history  must  of 
necessity  be  a  scattered  account  of  what  is  done  by 
the  early  workers,  and  this  is  especially  true  of 
Methodism  in  all  its  branches.  It  may  be  that  fifty 
or  an  hundred  years  hence  our  descendants  will 
wonder  why  we,  too,  at  the  close  of  this  century, 
were  not  more  careful  that  they  might  know  much  of 
what  we  doubtless  leave  unrecorded,  strive  the  best 
we  may. 

The  Savannah  District  reported  three  churches 
built — one  on  Sylvania  Circuit  and  two  on  Mobley's 
Pond  Circuit,  while  on  the  Effingham  River  Circuit 
Rev.  E.  Lowery  had  erected  a  first-class  camp-meet- 
ing stand  upon  our  own  land  (a  plat  of  fifteen  acres 
of  timber),  where  a  church,  parsonage  and  needed 
camp-meeting  supplies  were  also  to  be  found.  Pre- 
siding Elder  Herrry  Strickland  had  added  to  the  dis- 
trict within  the  year,  two  new  circuits  and  missions 
where  we  had  nothing  before  and  Rev.  A.  Martin, 
under  him,  had  purchased  a  lot  and  built  a  church, 
having  gathered  a  good  congregation.  Rev.  G.  B. 
Reed,  of  the  Hutchison  Church  Circuit,  had  built  a 
church  whose  entire  property  was  worth  over  $2,000. 
Pvev.  Wm.   Hamilton,  at  Taylor  Creek  Circuit,  was 


130  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

also  building  a  church  there.  So  the  work  under 
Elder  Strickland,  at  the  close  of  his  fourth  year  on 
this  district,  had  been  extended  in  every  direction, 
and  in  this  one  year  had  gained  $4,000.00  worth  of 
property. 

Thomasville  District  was  also  in  a  favorable  con- 
dition— greatly  improved  during  the  year  under  Pre- 
siding Elder  Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams.  An  increase 
of  three  hundred  and  fifty-six  members  and  a  fair 
financial  showing  was  evidence  in  itself  of  the  hard 
labor  that  had  been  given. 

A  considerable  revival  on  the  Muscogee  County 
Circuit,  in  the  Columbus  Presiding  Elder  District — 
Rev.  E.  P.  Holmes,  Presiding  Elder — showed  that. 
Rev.  W.  S.  Shorts  was  working  in  the  right  line. 
Talbotton  was  receiving  valuable  repairs  and  St. 
Peter's  and  Mt.  Zion  Circuit,  under  Rev.  Wm.  Ross, 
were  building  a  chapel.  A  new  church  at  Box 
Springs  was  nearly  completed  by  Rev.  B.  F.  Frank- 
lin, while  a  good  church  at  Fort  Valley  had  been 
built  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Wynn.  Reynold's  and  Everetc's 
Mission,  where  formerly  there  was  nothing,  had 
been  built  and  ten  or  twelve  members  gathered 
in  by  Rev.  Newrey  Ellison,  and  Robertson's  Mission, 
set  off  from  St.  James  church  in  Columbus  one  year 
before,  now  reported  sixty-eight  members  and  a 
growing  work. 

In  Americus  District,  Rev.  Wm.  Raven,  Presiding 
Elder,  good  work  under  Rev.  W.  C.  Gaines  was 
reported  at  Americus.  In  Cuthbert  District,  under 
Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson,  Presiding  Elder,  five  churches 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  131 

were  already  built  or  in  progress.  There  was  a  new 
parsonage  at  Dawson,  under  Rev.  H.  B.  Dowdell, 
and  new  work  had  opened  on  Brooksville  Circuit, 
while,  best  of  all,  revivals  at  nearly  every  point 
occurred  during  this  first  year  of  Elder  Robertson's 
presiding  influence. 

Valdosta  District  reported  four  new  churches  built, 
repairs  made,  wiping  out  of  some  debts,  good  Sunday- 
school  work  and  increasing  membership  under  Pre- 
siding Elder  J.  T.  Crayton.  Sandersville  District, 
with  Presiding  Elder  S.  W.  Drayton  in  charge,  showed 
landed  property  added  at  nine  different  points  and 
the  work  preparatory  to  building  going  on  at  a 
promising  rate.  The  pastors  were  all  workers.  Rev. 
Henry  Porter,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Albany  Dis- 
trict, reported  Rev.  D.  T.  Green,  pastor  at  Albany 
Station,  as  doing  nobly  in  building  a  new  brick 
church,  for  which  his  flock  had  raised  upwards  of 
•$1,200.00.  Rev.  G.  R.  Bass,  on  Blakely  Circuit,  and 
Rev.  E.  B.  Brown,  on  Arlington  Circuit,  had  entered 
the  work  of  building  a  parsonage.  Rev.  T.  Mclver, 
on  Lee  County  Circuit,  Rev.  P.  L.  Jackson,  on  Mor- 
gan, and  Rev.  John  Harris,  at  Dover,  were  each 
engaged  in  erecting  new  churches,  while  at  Leary 
Rev.  Boston  Scott  had  purchased  ground  for  the 
purpose. 

This  brings  up  the  subject  of  residences.  The 
General  Conference  at  St.  Louis  ordered  that  the 
newly  elected  Bishops,  Rt.  Revs.  H.  M.  Turner,  D. 
D.,  LL.  D.,  Wra.  F.  Dickerson,  D.  D.,  R.  H.  Cain, 
D.  D.,  should  live  in  the  South.      Up  to  this  time  the 


132  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

South  had  no  resident  Bishop.  The  Senior's  home 
was  at  Wilberforce,  Ohio;  Bishop  J.  A.  Shorter  was 
his  next  door  neighbor.  Bishop  Brown's  residence 
was  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  Bishop  Wayman  was 
located  at  Baltimore,  and  Bishop  Campbell  at  Phila- 
delphia; while  Bishop  Ward's  home  was  in  Benning, 
Washington,  D.  C.  So  the  South,  as  a  region  below 
the  limits  of  Washington  City,  had  no  Episcopal 
residence. 

It  was,  of  course,  a  personal  sacrifice  to  break  up 
homes  already  formed  and  locate  in  a  new  region, 
but  it  had  been  ordered.  Appreciating  these  sac- 
rifices which  must  be  made,  the  Conferences  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  decided  to  assist  in 
making  ready  these  new  homes.  To  this  end  the 
Columbia  Conference  and  the  Georgia  Conference 
contributed  to  assist  Bishop  Dickerson  in  the  pur- 
chase of  a  home.  There  to-day  in  the  city  of 
Columbia,  South  Carolina,  stands  a  beautiful  resi- 
dence, which  the  Bishop  was  given  only  a  few  short 
years  to  enjoy  before  he  went  to  his  long  home — 
that  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.      His  widow  still  resides  there. 

The  retirement  of  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner  from 
active  membership  among  us  to  enter  upon  the 
higher  duties  of  Episcopacy  was  looked  upon  as  a 
great  loss  in  one  sense,  but  he  carried  with  him 
warmest  sentiments  of  love,  honor  and  esteem.  He 
assumed  charge  of  the  Eighth  Episcopal  District. 
With  the  last  General  Conference  nine  Episcopal 
Districts  were  laid  off,  but  though  the    union  with 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  133 

the  B.  M.  E.  Church  [was  agitating  the  Church  and 
in  the  present  year  (1881)  had  been  to  a  degree 
consummated,  it  was  not  yet  included  in  our  work. 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina  constituted  the  Sixth 
Episcopal  District  under  Bishop  Dickerson,  while  at 
that  time  Alabama  and  Florida  were  under  Bishop 
Wayman  as  the  Seventh  District. 

The  year  1881  was  a  memorable  year  in  some 
respects.  It  was  the  year  when  a  noted  gathering 
of  men — laymen  and  clergy,  ministers  and  bishops — 
met  the  Ecumenical  Conference  in  London  to  do 
honor  to  themselves  and  the  church.  From  this 
they  returned  safely  under  His  care,  bringing 
renewed  zeal  and  added  wisdom  after  having  demon- 
strated to  that  great  Christian  assembly  what  the 
negro  is  and  what  he  can  do  with  arms  half  pinioned, 
and  above  all,  what  a  glorious  church  work  we  com- 
mand in  the  army  of  the  church  militant. 

The  year's  work  in  Georgia  concluded  financially 
strong.  The  North  Georgia  Conference  reported 
■12,012.40,  and  the  Georgia  Conference  $2,608.93 
from  13,341  members. 


134  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  YEAR  1882. 

As  had  been  the  custom,  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference opened  the  year  1882  holding  its  session 
first  in  Bethel  Church,  Augusta,  Ga.,  beginning  Jan 
11th.  The  Georgia  Conference  followed  on  the  26th, 
assembling  in  St.  Thomas  A.  M.  E.  Church,  Thom- 
asville,  Ga. 

Bishop  Dickerson  presided  over  each  in  turn, 
with  Rev.  T.  McCant  Stewart,  of  Sullivan  St. 
Church,  New  York  City,  to  assist  in  the  opening 
exercises  of  the  latter. 

The  business  of  the  former  was  promptly  laid  out, 
and  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day  the  body  listened 
to  the  annual  sermon  by  Rev.  A.  J.  Miller,  Presiding 
Elder,  from  the  text  in  Rev.  iii:  21,  "To  him  that 
overcometh  evil  I  grant  to  sit  with  me  in  my 
throne." 

Among  the  visitors  introduced  to  this  Conference 
were  Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey  of  the  Colored  M.  E. 
Church  of  America  and  Revs.  C.  H.  Collins,  A.  J. 
Stinson,  S.  L.  Stinson  and  G.  W.  Usher  of  the 
same.  After  the  statistical  reports,  an  indefinite 
extension  of  time  that  the  Conference  might  hear 
from    Bishop    Holsey    was    taken    at    the  request  of 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  135 

Bishop  Dickerson,  who  paid  this  neat  tribute  in  pre- 
senting the  visitor :  "The  church  so  nobly  repre- 
sented by  Bishop  Holsey,  in  the  midst  of  vast  diffi- 
culties and  besetments,  has  accomplished  a  work  for 
God  and  the  African  race  which  entitles  it  to  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  the  entire  Christian  world; 
but  especially  the  colored  Methodists  of  every  name; 
and  if  it  should  please  God  to  bring  about  an  organic 
union  of  the  African  churches,  it  would  be  a  matter 
of  delight  with  me  to  have  it  strike  in  at  first  with 
A.  M.  E.  Church  and  the  C.  M.  E.  Church,  in 
America. 

Bishop  L.  H.  Holsey  replied  nearly  as  follows: 
"There  is  a  oneness  in  Methodism  which  is  like  the 
dust  of  the  lodestone.  It  will  gravitate  to  a  focal  cen- 
ter. I  have  seen  the  same  characteristics  of  Methodism 
in  Europe  and  America.  There  has  been  a  ten- 
dency among  the  educated  people  of  late  to  stifle 
ths  original  fire  of  truth  ;  but  there  is  a  rekind- 
ling of  that  fervency  breaking  out  into  new  vigor 
from  the  late  Ecumenical  Council.  The  separate 
bodies  of  Methodists  are  like  mighty  rivers  running 
side  by  side,  but  destined  to  unite  in  the  near  future; 
or  it  is  like  laborers  in  separate  fields,  between  whom 
the  middle  wall  of  partition  is  crumbling  to  decay. 
He  felt  glad  that  for  once,  and  in  London,  he  had 
found  the  place  where  it  was  good  to  be  a  black 
man;  and  the  only  trouble  with  him  was  that  he  was 
not  quite  black  enough.  He  was  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  high  destiny  awaiting  the  colored  race; 
and    it  can    be  reached  only  through  a  full  participa- 


136  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

tion  in  the  benefits  of  the  Gospel;  and  this  has  well 
nigh  been  secured  to  us  through  the  powerful  in- 
fluence of  the  Methodist  doctrine.  We  have  a  com- 
mon work  in  the  several  departments  of  our  labor, 
and  the  grand  results  which  have  flowed  from  the 
influence  of  John  Wesley  will  continue  to  bless  the 
world  until  the  innumerable  company  of  saints, 
redeemed  and  reunited,  shall  enter  the  Master's  joy 
in  the  city  of  the  New  Jerusalem.  God  bless  your 
Conference  and  your  labors  with  abundance  of  grace. 
Amen." 

The  missionary  meeting  was  most  interesting  with, 
addresses  by  Revs.  Richard  Graham,  Andrew  Brown, 
the  writer  and  others;  but  it  was  at  the  anniversary 
of  the  Educational  Society  that  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  workers  of  the  Conference  showed  itself.  The 
report  of  this  committee,  which  was  accepted,  appro- 
priated $700  to  pay  its  proportional  part  of  one 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  dollars  bor- 
rowed by  the  ^college  trustees,  while  a  day  was  set 
apart  in  May  to  raise  funds  to  meet  the  last  pay- 
ment. Revs.  W.  H.  Heard,  A.  W.  Lowe  and  R.  A. 
Hall  made  telling  speeches  upon  the  subject,  and 
what  the  latter  said  in  reference  to  sustaining  Bishop 
Dickerson  has  been  done  bravely  and  nobly  for  him 
and  those  who  have  followed  him — Bishop  J.  A. 
Shorter  and  the  writer.  "Help  them  lay  the  .step- 
ping stones;  render  a  full  and  hearty  support,  that 
our  ministers  may  rise  higher  and  higher,  until  they 
shall   gaze  upon  the    bright   orb  of    intellectual  light 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  137 

and    strike    the  lyre    with    thoughts  and  words  that 
burn  with  living  fire." 

That  the  youth  of  the  present  generation  may 
know  something  of  what  we,  who  stand  at  middle 
age,  endured  in  gathering  precious  bits  of  education,. 
Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson's  remarks  are  inserted  here. 
"He  attended  college  away  down  on  an  old  planta- 
tion in  Mississippi  and  graduated  in  three  weeks. 
He  was  taught  by  his  master's  little  son;  but  when 
the  overseer  found  it  out  his  course  was  brought  to  a 
sudden  close.  His  highest  ambition  at  that  time  was- 
to  learn  how  to  write  his  pass.  He  kept  a  copy  of  one 
and  spent  a  whole  year  studying  it ;  and,  after- 
wasting  bottles  of  ink,  he  succeeded  in  learning  to 
write ;  but  it  was  bad  and  he  was  afraid  to  trust  it. 
At  last  one  night  he  left  it  lying  upon  the  counter  in 
a  store  and  came  back  asking;  '  Has  any  one  seen  my 
pass  ? '  After  looking  around  some  time  the  clerk 
said :  'Here  it  is  ;'  and  the  writer  came  out  of  the 
store  saying  to  himself,  'Thank  God,  somebody  can 
read  it.'  " 

We  say  Thank  God  for  the  wave  of  enlightenment 
that  has  enabled  so  many  thousands  of  those  who 
struggled  then  to  enjoy  at  last  the  many  privileges 
and  blessings  that  freedom  with  education  has 
brought. 

Bishop  Dickerson  at  this  time  was  collecting  books 
to  complete  a  library  of  Negro  authors,  and  urged  the 
brethren  to  "take  hold  upon  the  good  productions  of 
our  own  race  and  bring  them  home  to  our  churches 
and  people."     It  was  what  he  was  ever  ready  to  for- 


138  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

ward — literary  work  of  the  race — and  his  pride  in  it 
was  that  which  should  be  the  pride  of  all.  No  won- 
der that  he  took  the  book  of  the  first  author  of 
a  Greek  work*  that  the  race  has  produced  — the 
first  volume  from  the  press — on  his  departure 
for  England,  Aug.  3,  1881,  and  in  Exeter 
Hall,  London,  waved  it  triumphantly  before  the 
•eyes  of  the  vast  audience  assembled  there  to 
have  it  received  .with  cheers  by  these  Christian 
brethren.  There  is  no  race  in  literature,  no  race  in 
education,  and  we  have  only  to  achieve  success  to  re- 
ceive recognition.  We  need,  too,  to  be  great  enough 
to  recognize  greatness  in  our  fellow  men  with  the 
same  unselfishness  that  we  exhibit  in  recognizing 
Supreme  greatness.  In  fact  this  is  one  great  attri- 
bute of  the  man  who  is  himself  truly  great.  Bishop 
Dickerson  tells  of  Bishop  Payne's  appointment  to 
preside  over  that  great  body  in  London  The  Senior 
Bishop  cried,  "Impossible !  I  cannot  do  that  when 
there  are  so  many  superior  men  here."  Then  when 
told  of  the  necessity,  he  said,  "I  will  pray  over  it." 
But  when  he  at  last  consented,  we  find  Bishop  Dick- 
erson, exclaiming  as  he  tells  of  it,  "It  was  the  grand- 
est victory  of  my  life  when  he  consented  with  his 
splendid  ability  to  represent  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
and  the  colored  race." 

The  features  of  this  Conference  were  strongly  ed- 
ucational and  the  literary  work  of  a  high  rank. 
Bishop  Turner's  remarks  and   those  of  others  led  all 


♦"First  Lessons  in  Greek"  by  Prof.  W.  S.  Scarborough,  A.  M.,  LL.  D,ofWil- 
.berforce  University,  Ohio. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  139 

to  feel  that  Georgia  was  rapidly  going  on  to  a  higher 
intellectual  plane  than  it  had  hitherto  occupied.  An 
instance  of  what  might  be  clone  by  any  one  was 
given  in  the  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Job  K.  Brown, 
who,  when  nearly  one  hundred  years  of  age,  was 
pressing  on  even  without  the  support  of  the  younger 
men  of  Conference,  and  stood  up  to  advocate  most 
advanced  ideas  upon  the  subject.  These  are  the 
men  whose  influence  in  life  and  after  death  help 
make  and  mould  every  race. 

The  matter  for  equal  accommodations  upon  rail- 
roads came  up,  for  it  concerned  us  deeply — the  min- 
isters who  necessarily  travel  much  from  point  to 
point.  We  thank  God  that  constant  agitation  by 
word  and  prayer  is  working  in  the  hearts  of  men 
through  Him,  so  that  there  is  light  ahead  upon  that 
disgrace  to  American  civilization — the  Negro's  rail- 
road accommodations  in  the  Southern  States. 

Twenty-one  were  admitted  or  re-admitted  into  full 
connection.  Thirteen  were  elected  Deacons  and 
three  Elders  :  William  Upshaw,  Homer  Shaw,  Henry 
Mullin,  Austin  Flewellen,  Melvin  W.  Moore,  Charles 
H.  Carter,  William  Hall,  Jr.,  Henry  W.  Madison, 
Edmund  Robinson,  John  Henry  Jackson,  James 
Andrew  Johnson,  Alfred  Emanuel  Walker,and  Charles 
Henry  King  (local),  and  Green  Hillsman,  Holmes 
Madison,  Daniel  Brookens.  Perry  Simon's  was  the 
only  death  from  the  ranks.  There  were  several  trans- 
fers from  the  work  elsewhere  :  Lawrence  Thomas, 
B.  R.  Glass,  J.  B.  Warner,  George  Washington,  A. 
G.  Gonickie,  P.  B.  Peters,  went  to  the  Georgia  Con- 


140  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

ference,  Rev.  Edward  Robinson  to  South  Arkansas- 
Conference  and  Rev.  Anthony  Johnson  to  Columbia- 
Conference.  Rev.  W.  C.  Banton,  recent  chief  clerk 
of  the  Publishing  Department  in  Philadelphia,  came- 
into  the  Georgia  Conference  work. 

The  number  of  members  reported  was  11,059  ; 
the  Georgia  Conference  reported  18,066,  making  a 
total  of  29,125.  The  reports  were  full  this  year 
and  those  of  the  Presiding  Elder  most  encouraging. 
A.  W.  Lowe,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Atlanta  District, 
reported  growth.  W.  H.  Harris,  Presiding  Elder  of 
Augusta  District,  reported  uphill  work,  nevertheless 
he  had  achieved  results.  The  Sparta  Mission  had 
been  created  by  Brother  F.  Davis,  and  where  there 
was  nothing  he  could  now  boast  of  two  new  churches 
with  thirty-five  or  forty  members.  A  school  had 
also  been  established  in  Sparta.  In  short,  an  in- 
crease of  960  members,  eight  new  churches  and  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils  in  the  schools  at 
Eatonton  and  Sparta,  showed  faithful  work  in  this 
vineyard.  Macon  District,  with  A.  J.  Miller,  showed 
an  increase  of  two  hundred  members  and  the  terri- 
tory was  well  occupied.  Marietta  District,  D.  J. 
McGhee,  Presiding  Elder,  felt  the  number  of  minis- 
ters to  be  greater  than  needful  for  the  number  of 
members  ;  Acworth  had  received  a  new  church,  also 
Woodstock  circuit,  while  eight  hundred  souls  had 
been  called  in. 

Griffin  District,  under  Richard  Graham,  reported 
churches  built  on  Greenville  Circuit  (Rev.  B.  Davis), 
Newnan  Station  (Rev.  M.  D.  Brookens),  Hogansville 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    ^F    FREEDOM.  141 

(Rev.  J.  W.  Waters),  with  others  in  process  of  build- 
ing. LaGrange  Mission  had  been  instituted  by  Rev. 
J.  F.  Brown,  and  forty-two  members  gathered,  while 
Corinth,  also  a  new  place,  had  twenty-five  members. 
Athens  District,  under  Peter  McLain,  reported  an 
increase  of  four  hundred  and  a  general  awakening. 

As  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  the 
Georgia  Conference  opened  its  session  upon  the  16th 
of  the  month  in  Thomasville. 

The  writer  was  present  to  represent  Dr.  B.  W. 
Arnett,  the  Financial  Secretary,  in  the  financial 
interests  of  the  church. 

The  key-note  of  work  seems  to  have  been  well 
struck  this  year,  and  there  is  much  food  for  thought 
for  all  Christian  workers  in  the  remark  of  Bishop 
Dickerson,  who  mentioned  the  noticeable  change  in 
the  spirit  of  our  work  as  inferred  alone  from  the  fact 
that  in  former  years  all  hymns  raised  in  our  Confer- 
ence were  in  the  minor  key,  but  those  raised  at  the 
present  session  were  in  the  major  key.  He  made 
the  contrast  still  more  striking  by  singing  in  both 
Iceys  by  way  of  illustration. 

Intemperance  received  the  hearty  condemnation 
which  was  to  find  expression  in  other  ways  in  less 
than  a  decade. 

The  Deacons  ordained  this  year  were  Brothers 
Lona  Rice,  L.  G.  Burnett  and  J.  S.  Flipper  (itinerant), 
T  S.  Ward,  D.  C.  Crawford  and  J.  H.  Johnson  (local). 
Wright  Newman  was  ordained  an  Elder.  The  wri- 
ter filled  the  desk  at  this  same  evening's  service  and 


142  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ) 

preached  from  Jeremiah,  xvii :  9,    "  The  heart  is  de- 
ceitful above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked." 

Dr.  J.  O.  A.  Clark,  ex-professor  of  Emory  College, 
Ga.,  who  was  engaged  in  uniting  the  various  Method- 
isms  of  the  world  in  building  the  Memorial  Church 
to  Mr.  Wesley  in  Savannah,  was  present,  represent- 
ing his  volume,  "The  Wesley  Memorial  Volume." 
It  was  a  pleasure  to  the  Conference  that  he  should' 
feel  moved  to  add,  when  Speaking  of  the  great  Sun- 
day-school movement  and  the  fact  that  to  our  Meth- 
odism and  to  Mr.  Wesley  belong  the  purity  of  it,. 
"  From  no  church,  I  am  free  to  say,  have  I  had  a. 
warmer  welcome  for  the  work  I  am  engaged  in  than 
from  the  A.  M.  E.  Church.  Presiding  Elder  Chris- 
tian, of  the  M.  E.  Chur.ch  South,  also  spoke,  stating 
among  other  things,  "  he  would  that  all  Methodist 
churches  of  the  colored  race  were  united  in  one." 
To  this  the  Bishop  courteously  made  answer  that  we 
were  only  waiting  for  our  white  brethren  to  set  the 
example. 

It  was  on  returning  from  this  Conference  that  the 
writer  suffered  the  indignity  of  an  attempt  to  eject 
him  from  the  first-class  car  from  Thomasville  to 
Albany.  It  did  not  succeed,  and  the  result  of  this, 
with  other  repeated  attempts  upon  ministers  and  lay- 
men, men,  women  and  children,  has  been  to  awaken 
an  indignation  born  of  self-respect  which  has  shown 
itself  in  the  manufacture  of  a  sentiment  that  cries 
out  against  such  proscription  and  discrimination,  and 
to-day  (1890)  we  do  fare  much  better,  though  there 
is  much   to  be  wished  for   upon  some  lines  and   at 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  143 

their  termini.  Better  treatment  is  deserved  by  those 
of  our  race  in  the  South  who  are  intelligent,  refined,, 
whose  behavior  is  that  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and 
who  are  constant  patrons  of  these  roads.  May  the 
Lord  hasten  the  day  when  no  man  shall  be  known  by 
the  color  of  his  skin,  but  by  his  walk.  We  have 
cried  aloud  year  after  year  against  the  evils  and  wick- 
edness wThich  are  directed  against  us,  and  we  have 
faith  that  the  Lord  is  not  deaf  to  our  cries,  but  will 
answer  them  all  in  His  own  good  way  and  time. 

Waynesboro  Mission,  in  the  Savannah  District, 
Rev.  C.  L.  Brad  well,  Presiding  Elder,  had  new  work 
to  show  under  Brother  Stewart,  though  the  District 
suffered  financially  from  failure  of  crops  and  high 
winds,  which  destroyed  the  Bethel  church,  also  one 
on  the  Ogeechee  Circuit,  but  the  former  was  up  again 
under  Brother  S.  G.  Cross.  Newly  built  churches, 
with  a  total  increase  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-six. 
members,  showed  Presiding  Elder  W.  H.  Powell's 
District  work  in  Thomasville.  St.  James  A.  M.  E. 
Church,  Rev.  E.  P.  Holmes,  in  the  Columbus  Dis- 
trict, Rev.  S.  B.  Jones,  Presiding  Elder,  had  received 
six  hundred  souls  and  raised  -13,712.05,  while  St. 
John's  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  raised  $1,549.43. 

Mt.  Gilead  Circuit  had  nearly  doubled  its  member- 
ship under  Rev.  J.  A.  Perkins,  while  general  progress 
seemed  evident.  In  the  Valdosta  District,  Rev. 
Peyton  Stokes,  Presiding  Elder,  reported  all  stations 
and  circuits  as  doing  well.  In  spite  of  much  sick- 
ness and  death  on  his  work,  Rev.  S.  W.  Drayton, 
Presiding  Elder  of    Sandersville    District,    reported 


144  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE   SOUTH  ; 

several  churches  built  and  many  souls  added.  Albany 
District  had  also  suffered,  but  this  Presiding  Elder 
Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams  attributed  largely  to  the 
cutting  up  of  circuits  to  make  new  work  and  to  the 
consequent  inability  of  the  remnants  being  able  to 
support  their  ministers.  Brunswick,  Rev.  Henry 
Strickland,  Presiding  Elder,  had  been  made  a  new 
District  in  1881,  and  the  work  was  doing  well  for  the 
first  year. 

The  Georgia  Conference  Presiding  Elder  Districts 
now  numbered  nine,  and  the  total  dollar  money  this 
year  was  12,833.38. 

Revs.  G.  W.  H.  Williams,  L.  H.  Smith,  C.  L. 
Bradwell  and  D.  T.  Green  took  transfers  to  North 
Georgia,  and  Rev.  H.  Hardee  was  received  from  East 
Florida  Conference. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  done  this  Con- 
ference year  was  embodied  in  the  report  of  the  North 
Georgia  Committee  on  Division  of  Conference : 

"  We,  your  Committee  on  Division  of  Conference, 
see  the  propriety  of  dividing  it,  and  recommend  that 
the  Committees  of  the  North  Georgia'  and  Georgia 
Conferences  meet  together  in  the  month  of  April 
next,  and  then  determine  about  the  dividing  lines  of 
the  Middle  Georgia  Conference.  Signed, 

W.  J.  Gaines,         R.  A.  Hall, 
A.  Brown,  J.  A.  Wood, 

A.  J.  Miller,         W.  H.  Harris, 
A.  W.  Lowe,  J.  B.  Lofton, 

R.  Graham,  D.  J.  McGhee." 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM. 

This  committee  met  as  stated,  in  Macon,  Ga.,  and 
laid  off  the  line  for  the  division  of  the  Conferences. 
Bishop  Dickerson  called  the  new  Conference — the 
Macon  Conference — to  meet  in  Sandersville  for  its 
first  session,  according  to  the  agreement  of  the  Com- 
mittee, which  was  in  all  respects  harmonious. 
10 


146  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE    SECOND    DIVISION. 


The  tenth  session  of  the  North  Georgia  Annual 
Conference  was  held  in  Jackson  Chapel,  Washington, 
Georgia,  beginning  Jan.  10,  1883  ;  and  the  seven- 
teenth of  the  mother  Conference — Georgia — con- 
vened Jan.  24,  1883,  in  St.  Andrew's  A.  M.  E. 
Church,  Darien,  Ga. 

Bishop  Dickerson  presided  in  both  cases,  and  Bishop 
J.  P.  Campbell  was  with  us  again  at  both  places,  with 
words  of  congratulation  for  the  work  over  which  he 
had  presided  for  four  years.  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson 
was  made  the  Secretary  of  the  former  Conference, 
with  Revs.  W.  H.  Heard  and  J.  B.  Lofton  as  assist- 
ants. The  Georgia  Conference  had,  for  Secretary, 
Rev.  J.  S.  Flipper,  with  Revs.  J.  B.  Warner  and  C. 
Max  Manning  for  assistants. 

The  literary  tone  of  these  sessions  was  indeed 
higher  than  ever  before.  The  words  of  wisdom 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  Bishops  Dickerson  and 
Campbell,  Dr.  Arnett,  Revs.  Townsend,  S.  M.  Clark 
and  others,  showed  that  the  power  which  works  for 
righteousness  is  working  for  mental  elevation  as  well. 

The  North  Georgia  Conference  elected  and  or- 
dained as  elders,    Edward   Dillard,    Davis    Malone, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  147 

Pinkard  Williams,  Henry  Heard,  Albert  Pace,  John 
Thomas  Belsaw ;  and  as  deacons,  Wm.  Henry  Har- 
rison, Hilliard  Donius  Canady,  Daniel  Strickland, 
Samuel  Floyd  Pritchard,  Cosmo  Plantagenet  Jordan, 
Anderson  Freeman  and  Anderson  Bough — the  last 
two  local.  The  Georgia  Conference  ordained  to  the 
same  office  W.  O.  P.  Sherman,  P.  H.  M.  Brookens. 
Edward  Lowery  and  J.  H.  Caesar  as  itinerants  ;  and  to 
the  office  of  deacon,  R.  W.  Stewart,  P.  S.  Smith,  H. 
Wells,  J.  W.  Williams,  M.  M.  Meyers,  H.  Nails,  T. 
Mclver,  P.  D.  Davis,  Renty  W.  Fickland  and  E.  B. 
Brown. 

Albert  McGhee  and  Burrel  Davis,  of  the  North 
Georgia  Conference,  had  died  this  year. 

In  a  financial  way  St.  Thomas'  Church  Sunday- 
school,  under  Rev.  J.  A.  Carey,  was  entitled  to  be 
considered  the  Banner  Sunday-school  of  the  Georgia 
Conference,  having  brought  the  largest  amount  of  mis- 
sionary money  per  pupil.  The  dollar  money  of  the  five 
districts  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference  reached  the 
sum  of  11,662.54,  with  a  membership  of  nine  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  two,  the  Atlanta  District 
leading.  Georgia  Conference  brought  in  $2,054.40 
as  its  dollar  money,  Savannah  District  leading,  and 
reported  from  its  six  districts  eleven  thousand  three 
hundred  and  eight  members.  In  the  last  named 
Conference  five  Presiding  Elders  gave  reports  for 
publication. 

In  the  Savannah  District,  under  Rev.  George 
Washington,  the  pastors  each  and  all  seem  to  have 
done  a  good  work.     The  church  at  St.  Philip's  Sta- 


148  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE   SOUTH  ; 

tion,  under  Rev.  H.  H.  Taylor,  had  been  repaired 
and  one  hundred  and  fifteen  members  received.  St. 
James'  Tabernacle,  Rev.  John  Justin,  pastor,  had  also 
made  repairs  and  received  ninety-five  members. 
Bethel  Church,  under  Rev.  C.  Max  Manning,  had 
had  a  prosperous  year.  St.  Thomas'  Church,  in 
Thomasville  District  (Rev.W.  H.  Powell,  P.  E.),  had 
been  greatly  built  up  by  Elder  Carey,  both  spiritually 
and  financially.  A  goodly  increase  of  members  and 
$1,265.20  collected  for  all  purposes  were  self-evident 
proofs  of  this.  Circuits,  missions  and  stations  were 
generally  in  good  condition,  with  a  total  increase  of 
members  of  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight.  Pre- 
siding Elder  S.  H.  Robertson  reported  nearly  all 
charges  as  having  good  Sunday-schools  and  several 
with  good  day  schools.  Accidents,  old  debts  and 
financial  dullness  had  been  drawbacks,  but  well 
overcome.  Albany  District  was  reported  by  its 
new  Presiding  Elder  as  having  been  left  in  ex- 
cellent condition  by  Elder  G.  W.  H.  Williams  and 
still  improving.  The  increase  in  membership 
was  seven  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  the  total 
amount  of  money  raised  $5,915.75.  Side  by  side 
with  this  report  we  place  that  of  the  North  Georgia. 
Atlanta  District,  under  D.  G.  Green,  P.  E.,  reported 
seven  new  churches  built,  a  church,  preacher  and 
congregation  added  from  the  C.  M.  E.  Church,  with 
much  repairing,  and  twelve  or  thirteen  hundred 
members  and  probationers  added  during  the  year. 
The  general  report  called  for  men  who  were  not  "for 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  149 

the  loaves  and  fishes"  but  for  "the  good  of  the 
work." 

Forsyth  District,  under  A.  W.  Lowe,  P.  E.,  was 
doing  well  according  to  its  location.  There  were 
many  new  members,  some  new  churches,  and  pros- 
pects of  portions  of  Jasper,  Butts  and  Monroe  county, 
where  many  farmers  lived,  being  so  impressed  with 
our  church  as  to  lead  to  the  erection  of  one  soon 
among  the  people  there.  Richard  Graham,  P.  E. 
of  the  Griffin  District,  reported  a  new  church  at  Pal- 
metto, under  Elder  Lester  ;  also  one  at  Senoia  Cir- 
cuit, Rev.  D.  Strickland,  pastor,  and  one  on  Griffin 
Circuit  by  Rev.  Joel  Stevens.  Six  new  churches  at 
Dalton,  Rome,  East  Rome,  Douglasville,  Stilesboro 
Circuit  and  Woodstock  Circuit,  respectively,  were 
reported  as  the  substantial  improvement  on  the  Mari- 
etta District  under  D.  J.  McGhee,  P.  E.  Eight  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  members  were  added,  and  a  pro- 
gression in  all  ways.  Presiding  Elder  McGhee  recom- 
mended the  adding  of  a  new  mission  to  this  district  to 
be  called  the  Cherokee  County  Mission,  as  Cherokee 
county,  Ala., -lay  so  near,  and  many  members  having 
removed  there,  desired  this  Conference  to  send  them 
a  minister.  But  the  Conference  decided  that  it  had 
no  dominion  over  Alabama  territory. 

Athens  District  presented  a  significant  report. 
With  a  beginning  at  the  opening  of  the  Conference 
year  of  eighteen  hundred  and  twelve  members  the 
number  had  rolled  up  to  twenty-one  hundred  and 
sixteen — A.  J.  Miller  its  Presiding  Elder.  Athens 
Station,  under  Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  had  done  well, 


150  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

as  had  other  stations,  circuits  and  missions.  New- 
work  had  been  opened  in  Banks  county.  W.  B. 
Anderson  had  been  sent  to  it  and  had  established  one 
church  and  taken  in  forty  members.  Rev.  Henry 
Mullin  had  established  a  church  in  the  upper  part  of 
Madison  county  with  thirteen  members.  In  the 
lower  part  of  Wilkes  county  a  new  mission  known  as 
Raytown  had  been  established  and  a  minister  sent 
there.  The  increase  of  members  was  two  hundred 
and  eighty-four,  and  in  dollar  money  two  hundred 
and  thirty. 

The  transfers  this  year  took  from  North  Georgia 
Conference  to  the  Macon  Conference  M.  E.  Cox,  D. 
J.  McGhee,  John  H.  Jackson  and  A.  W.  Lowe,  to 
the  Georgia  Conference  W.  H.  Mundy,  to  the  South 
Carolina  Conference  W.  H.  Harrison,  and  brought  to 
the  work  from  Columbia  Conference  T.  W.  Haigler. 
Four  of  the  ministers  were  awaiting  work  at  the  close. 
Georgia  Conference  sent  to  the  North  Georgia  work 
Rev.  C.  Max  Manning,  to  the  Macon  work  Revs.  S. 
H.  Robertson  and  Peyton  Stokes,  while  Rev.  J.  A. 
Wood  was  finally  brought  from  the  North  Georgia 
Conference  to  the  Georgia. 

The  work  was  in  a  transition  stage  again,  owing,  of 
course,  to  the  newly  formed  Conference  and  the 
endeavor  to  equalize  it. 

When  in  1868  the  Georgia  Conference  held  its 
first  session,  it  could  hardly  have  foreseen  the  result 
which  would-be  reached  in  five  years  and  require  the 
division  of  Conference  which  was  made  in  1873; 
much  less  would  it  have  been  able  to  conceive  of  the 
proportions  the  work  in  the  State  would  assume  by 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  151 

branching  out  into  Alabama,  and  then  in  1883  again 
calling  for  another  division  of  the  work  in  Georgia; 
so  that  at  the  end  of  eighteen  years  from  the  intro- 
duction of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  into  the  South  we 
should  find  three  Conferences,  with  each  in  a  pros- 
perous condition. 

The  new  Conference  was  called  the  Macon  Con- 
ference and  included  in  its  work  the  Presiding  Elder 
Districts  of  Americus,  Augusta,  Forsyth,  Macon  and 
Columbus.  It  held  its  first  session,  as  already  inti- 
mated, at  Sandersville,  Georgia,  opening  Jan.  31, 
1883,  immediately  at  the  close  of  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference in  Darien.  Bishop  Campbell  was  present  to 
assist  Bishop  Dickerson  in  the  opening  of  the  new 
work,  which  began  under  most  favorable  auspices. 
The  regular  routine  of  business  was  taken  up  in 
earnest.  Nothing  was  omitted,  and  had  it  been  a 
veteran  Conference  in  its  special  work  it  could  have 
proceeded  no  more  smoothly  or  systematically,  but 
then  it  was  composed  of  veterans. 

Ten  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial  :  Felix  Foster, 
S.  P.  Thomas,  J.  B.  Wright,  E.  D.  Gorham,  F. 
Cothern,  W.  T.  Morris,  Jerry  R.  Moseley,  J.  C.  Dean, 
Matthew  W.  Travers,  John  Seabrooks.  The  Deacons 
elected  and  ordained  were  Robert  I.  Bailey,  Daniel 
K.  Knight,  Daniel  Smith,  Frank  Boddie,  Newrey 
Ellison,  Lord  Baltimore,  Calvert  Preston  Johnson, 
Owen  W.  Daniels,  Jesse  B.  Reese.  C.  Dean  and 
John  Seabrooks  were  re-obligated.  The  Elders  were 
Lawrence  G.  Gary,  Preston  B.  Peters,  Andrew  Griffin, 


152  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

William  Conwell  Banton,  Samuel  G.  Cross.  Matthew 
W.  Travers  was  re-obligated. 

The  new  Conference  held  as  Presiding  Elders, 
Revs.  W.  C.  Gaines,  W.  H.  Harris,  A.  M.  Lowe,  S. 
B.  Jones,  S.  W.  Drayton.  It  started  out  with  twelve 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  church  mem- 
bers, and  reported  this  year  $2,479.35  as  dollar 
money,  and  a  goodly  subscription  list  was  made  up 
for  the  Atlanta  College. 

It  occurred  this  year  that  the  new  Conference  held 
its  second  session  in  this  same  year  through  a  change 
of  time,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Conferences  in  the 
State  to  assemble  in  the  winter  following.  It  opened 
its  session  in  Forsyth,  Ga.,  Nov.  28,  in  St.  Luke's 
Church,  Bishop  W.  F.  Dickerson  presiding,  and  after 
the  opening  exercises  he  addressed  the  Conference, 
referring  briefly  to  the  near  close  of  his  labors  in  this 
work,  thanking  them  for  the  pleasant  memories  he 
carried  away  with  him. 

The  Secretary  of  the  last  Conference  was  re- 
elected— Rev.  W.  C.  Banton.  The  annual  sermon 
was  preached  by  Rev.  Lawrence  Thomas,  who  spoke  as 
an  old  and  tried  soldier,  in  glowing  terms  of  the  new 
birth  and  the  blessed  promises.  The  sermons  of  the 
entire  session  were  notably  powerful  and  interesting. 
Rev.  W.  H.  Smith  preached  Sunday  morning  in  St. 
Luke's  A.  M.  E.  Church.  Rev.  Y.  Gould,  the  Business 
Manager  of  the  Publication  Department,  preached  the 
ordination  sermon  in  the  afternoon,  and  Dr.  B.  W. 
Arnett,  Financial  Secretary,  in  the  evening.  Bishop 
Dickerson,  by  special  invitation,  preached  in  the  M. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  153 

E.  Church  South,  of  Forsyth,  assisted  in  the  services 
by  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett,  Revs.  L.  Smith,  of  Eatonton, 
and  E.  P.  Holmes,  of  Columbus.  The  sermon  was 
an  able  effort  and  was  reported  for  the  Minutes  by 
L.  E.  Hall. 

There  was  a  large  number  of  visitors  present  from 
both  the  North  Georgia  and  Georgia  Conferences, 
aside  from  the  two  General  Officers  of  the  Church 
mentioned  above  and  friends  in  Forsyth.  There  was 
also  quite  a  long  list  of  transfers :  Revs.  Henry 
Porter,  R.  B.  Bailey  and  C.  P.  Johnson  to  the  Georgia 
Conference;  also  W.  M.  Garrison,  G.  D.  Jordan,  John 
Taliaferro  and  Milus  Davis  to  the  same;  Revs.  I.  S. 
Hamilton,  M.  O.  Boddie,  H.  C.  Boyd,  Peter  McLain 
and  R.  Brooks  to  the  North  Georgia  ;  Revs.  S.  G. 
Cross  and  G.  M.  Holland  to  South  Carolina. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were,  J.  A.  Jones, 
Elbert  Brown,  Franklin  Battle,  T.  C.  Lewis,  C.  Mil- 
ton, R.  M.  S.  Taylor,  R.  B.  Sanford,  San  Francisco 
Andrews,  J.  A.  Murphy,  G.  W.  Hill.  Warren  R. 
Davis  was  elected  and  ordained  deacon,  and  Lona 
Rice,  Wm.  Ross,  Allen  Cooper,  Rabun  Lawson, 
Wylie  Christopher  Shelton,  George  Washington  and 
Lee  Neal  elders.  A  good  report  came  up  from  the  five 
districts,  with  promising  mission  work. 

This  year  (1883)  was  to  close  the  17th  quadrennium 
of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  lacking  but  three  years  of 
seven  decades.  It  was  also  to  see  the  end  of  Bishop 
Dickerson's  four  years  of  work  over  what  was  then 
the  Sixth  District,  including  the  States  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina.     The  Conference  year,  however 


154  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH; 

did  not  come  to  a  close  until  after  the  meeting  of  the 
two  older  Conferences  in  January  following  the  Macon 
Conference,  and  before  the  assembling  of  the  General 
Conference  in  May. 

The  year  1884  opened  the  first  Conference  in  the 
State  in  Marietta,  Ga. — the  North  Georgia — which 
convened  in  Turner's  Chapel  Jan.  9,  and  held  until 
the  15th.*  Two  days  later — the  17th — the  Georgia 
Annual  Conference  held  its  session,  assembling  in 
St.  Paul's  A.  M.  E.  Church,  in  Valdosta,  Ga. 

With  almost  prophetic  utterance,  Rt.  Rev.  W.  F. 
Dickerson  opened  the  former,  singing  the  hymn, 
"Awake,  my  soul,  stretch  every  nerve."  The  Bishop 
had  been  suffering  much  bodily  affliction  since  his 
last  meeting  with  us,  but  he  affirmed,  "  It  has  been 
a  healthful  discipline.  God  wants  to  show  that  we 
cannot  lean  upon  our  own  arm." 

A  large  number  was  referred  to  the  Conference  for 
admission  by  that  committee — so  large  that  it  led  to 
hesitancy  and  considerable  discussion,  participated  in 
by  Andrew  Brown,  R.  Graham,  P.  McLain  and  the 
writer.  It  seemed  hardly  advisable  to  admit  so  many 
men,  unless  there  was  a  strong  probability  of  their 
getting  appointments,  but  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
Bishop  that  they  be  impressed  with  the  idea  of  mak- 
ing work  for  themselves,  there  seemed  no  reason  why 
the  following  should  not  be  admitted  on  trial :  A. 
W.    Watson,    J.    C.    Webb,    H.    M.    Lofton,    S.    C. 


*  Rev.  R.  R.  Downs,  of  the  East  Florida  Conference,  was  transferred  during  the 
interval  of  the  year  and  stationed  at  Athens,  Ga.,  and  from  this  Conference  trans- 
ferred to  the  Macon  Conference  and  stationed  at  St.  John's  Church,  Columbus,  Ga. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FJlEEDOM.  155 

Hendricks,  Floyd  Griffin,  James  Watts,  Richard 
Fountain,  N.  L.  Holmes,  Alexander  Pierce,  L.  Bax- 
ter, R.  J.  Hinton,  C.  W.  Simon,  Luke  Allen,  Simon 
Alexander,  C.  H.  Fairfax,  Jerry  McGruder,  J.  R. 
Phillips,  George  Parks,  L.  Leonard  and  Charles 
Mallory. 

The  deacons  of  this  year,  newly  ordained,  were, 
Doctor  Leak  Durand,  Wm.  Hannabal  Foster,  Elijah 
Harrison  Zeigler,  John  Wesley  Lawrence  and  Henry 
Crittenden.  The  elders  were  Jordan  Reese  Gay, 
Henry  Orange  Mullen,  William  Upshaw,  Charles 
Forrest  and  Henry  Redding.  The  two  latter  re- 
ceived the  vote  of  Conference  as  a  compliment  for 
long  and  effective  service.  Only  one  member  had 
died  this  year— Albert  Pace — one  of  the  oldest  mem- 
bers of  the  Georgia  Conference.  He  had  been  identi- 
fied with  the  North  Georgia  since  the  division  in 
1873,  and  had  been  a  faithful  laborer  up  to  his  death, 
which  took  place  at  his  last  place  of  appointment, 
Coosa  Bend,  June  9,  1883.  So  one  by  one  the 
fathers  of  the  Georgia  work  go  down  before  the 
Reaper's  blade.  But  how  true  it  is,  "  God  buries  the 
workmen  but  the  work  goes  on." 

The  election  of  delegates  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence resulted  in  the  following  selection  :  Rev.  W. 
J.  Gaines,  D.  D.,  Rev.  R.  Graham,  Rev.  Andrew 
Brown,  Rev.  D.  T.  Green,  Rev.  W.  D.  Johnson,  Rev. 
A.  J.  Miller,  with  Revs.  W.  H.  Heard,  J.  B.  Lofton, 
C.  E.  Bradwell,  M.  E.  Cox,  J.  G.  Yeiser,  H.  T. 
Cargile    as    alternates.      The    lay    delegates    to    the 


156  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH; 

Electoral  College  were  Harrison  Harris  and  Alex- 
ander Hamilton. 

As  this  was  the  last  session  of  the  presiding 
Bishop's  official  connection  with  the  Conference, 
together  with  Rev.  Andrew  Brown,  the  writer  had 
the  pleasure  of  presenting  him  a  purse  of  fifty  dollars 
as  evidence  of  its  high  regard  for  him.  Bishop  T. 
M.  D.  Ward  was  present  at  this  session  and  preached 
a  most  stirring  sermon.  It  was  an  appeal  to  the 
young  men  to  rouse  themselves  to  action,  and  he 
showed  there  was  no  reason  for  discouragement ; 
they  could  mount  high,  if  they  so  desired,  by  God's 
help.  He  also  uttered  a  truth  which  all  will  do  well 
to  remember  when  the  masterful  Anglo-Saxon  claims 
his  vast  superiority  over  the  negro  race  :  "  But  the 
fact  stands  upon  the  page  of  recent  history  that  they 
have  come  from  a  degradation  deeper  even  than  that 
from  which  we  have  so  lately  been  emancipated.  A 
favoring  providence  and  determined  effort  are  the 
only  causes  to  which  they  stand  indebted  for  their 
present  pitch  of  grandeur  and  enlightened  civiliza- 
tion." 

Bishop  Ward  preached  the  ordination  sermon  in 
the  morning,  while  Bishop  Dickerson  officiated  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  writer  in  the  evening.  The 
parallel  lines  of  thought  were  so  striking  in  these 
three  sermons  that  it  is  worthy  of  mention — Faith  in 
and  obedience  to  God  and  encouragement  to  go  for- 
ward. The  Bishop  said,  "The  Britons  were  once  so 
degraded  that  Caesar  said  he  would  take  a  few  of 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  157 

them  to  Rome  to  see  whether  they  were  human 
beings  or  not." 

Thank  God,  the  gospel  has  made  it  possible  for  all 
the  races  upon  God's  foot-stool  to  unite  in  the  one 
petition,  "Our  Father,"  which  proves  the  common 
brotherhood  of  man  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Macon  Conference,  young  as  it  was,  had  paid  six 
hundred  dollars  toward  Morris  Brown  College,  and  this 
Conference  was  urged  to  give  nine  hundred  dollars. 
Finances,  generally,  were  fair.  Dollar  money  reached 
$2,065.51,  and  the  percentage  of  Conference  was 
$619.50 ;  members  reported,  nine  thousand  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five. 

Presiding  ElderD.  T.  Green,  of  the  Atlanta  Dis- 
trict, reported  ten  churches  in  process  of  building. 
The  church  at  Bethel  Station,  W.  J.  Gaines,  pastor, 
had  been  remodeled  thoroughly.  Madison,  Georgia, 
under  Elder  Bradwell,  and  Shiloh,  under  M.  D. 
Brookens,  were  points  especially  worthy  of  com- 
mendation. Griffin  District,  under  Rev.  R.  Graham, 
gave  an  account  of  a  prosperous  state  of  things. 
Rev.  J.  G.  Yeiser  had  clone  the  work  of  building 
Allen  Temple  in  Atlanta. 

Revivals  of  religion  and  financial  progress  in  church 
building,  raising  debts  and  dollar  money  were  char- 
acteristically brought  out  in  the  report  from  the 
Marietta  District,  under  Rev.  W.  D.  Johnson.  New 
work  had  been  established  on  the  Athens  District — 
Union  Point  Mission,  Woodstock  and  Jefferson  Mis. 
sion,  as  the  extension  of  work  under  Presiding  Elder 


158  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

A.  J.  Miller.  Altogether  it  was  a  most  successful 
year. 

The  Georgia  Conference  of  1884  met  at  Valdosta  on 
the  17th  of  January.      W.  H.  Hamburg,  W.  D.  Moore, 

B.  W.  Nelson,  H.  L.  Weston,  E.  J.  Bush,  J.  P.  Mitchell, 
Stead  Matchet  and  S.  M.  Addey  were  admitted  on 
trial.  W.  H.  Walton,  R.  V.  Smith  and  George 
Kimboro  were  elected  and  ordained  itinerant  deacons, 
Joseph  Wooten  local,  and  J.  S.  Flipper,  D.  L.  Jones, 
J.  W.  Tolliver,  Joseph  Collier  and  Daniel  Duncan  were 
elected  and  ordained  elders.  J.  A.  Perkins  and  F. 
S.  Garrett  had  died  within  the  year.  The  former 
had  joined  the  Conference  at  Americus  in  1870, 
under  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown,  while  Brother  Thomas  S. 
Garrett  joined  at  Savannah  in  1866,  under  Bishop  D. 
A.  Payne.  The  latter  was  a  pioneer  in  the  service 
and  a  great  sufferer,  long  ill,  and  speechless  two 
months  before  he  died.  But  upon  being  asked  by 
Bishop  Turner  as  death  approached,  "  Is  there  light 
in  the  valley?"  his  tongue  was  loosed  and  he  cried 
out,  "  Victory  !"  as  he  passed  away. 

This  Conference  also  showed  its  esteem  for  Bishop 
Dickerson  by  a  present  similar  to  that  of  the  North 
Georgia — a  purse  of  fifty  dollars — and  the  body  peti- 
tioned the  General  Conference  to  send  him  back  to 
the  work  ;  but  He  knew  best. 

It  was  remarked  in  the  reports  that  the  railroad 
accommodations  for  our  people  were  improving,  and 
the  cause  of  education,  private  and  State,  encourag- 
ing to  a  high  degree. 

The  Georgia  Conference  elected  as  its  delegates  to 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  159 

the  General  Conference,  Revs.  M.  B.  Salters,  Henry 
Strickland,  George  Washington,  W.  H.  Powell,  J.  A. 
Wood  and  W.  O.  P.  Sherman,  with  alternates  in  Revs. 
J.  A.  Cary,  A.  J.  Johnson,  S.  M.  Clark,  H.  M.  Brook- 
ens,  M.  A.  Pierce  and  C.  H.  Wilson.  The  transfers 
were  Rev.  J.  B.  Lofton  from  the  North  Georgia  to 
this  body ;  Revs.  R.  B.  Bailey,  C.  P.  Johnson  and 
Henry  Porter  from  Macon  Conference  to  this  ;  Rev. 
J.  B.  Warner  from  Georgia  Conference  to  Arkansas 
Conference  ;  and  Rev.  James  Etheridge  from  Georgia 
Conference  to  East  Florida.  The  dollar  money 
reached  -12,416.54  from  a  membership  of  ten  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  ten  ;  but  the  statistics  of 
this  body  this  year  seem  to  have  been  rendered  in- 
complete by  a  failure  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
brethren  to  make  their  reports. 


160  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

BEGINNING    A    NEW    QUADRENNIUM. 

The  Seventeenth  Quadrennial  Session  of  the 
church  was  held  in  Baltimore,  May  5th,  1884,  in 
Bethel  church,  Saratoga  street.  The  presentation 
of  the  work  of  the  various  departments  was  inter- 
esting, especially  in  relation  to  the  increase  of  our 
preaching  force,  as  well  as  membership. 

In  1784,  one  hundred  years  before,  there  was  one 
colored  preacher,  Henry  Hosier;  now  we  see  2,540 
traveling  preachers;  9,760  local  preachers  and  ex- 
horters,  and  a  total  membership  392,540  souls  re- 
ported. This  includes  simply  the  work  of  the  A.  M. 
E.  Church.  The  total  of  colored  Methodist  popu- 
lation in  America  reached  1,023,017,  while  the  dif- 
ferent Methodist  churches,  exclusively  African,  gave 
a  total  of  6,819  traveling  preachers,  and  the  entire 
Methodist  population  in  America  reached  4,092,068. 

This  year  there  were  no  additions  to  the  Bishop- 
ric. Bishop  Dickerson  was  assigned  to  the  Second 
District,  consisting  of  the  States  of  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina  and  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  the  Sixth  received  in  his  stead  the  supervision  of 
Bishop  James  A.  Shorter  for  the  next  four  years. 
Little  did  the  Convention  think  that  before  another 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  161 

quadrennium  should  close  these  two  would  have 
gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  dust  to  dust — these 
two  and  one  other,  Bishop  R.  H.  Cain.  Thus  in 
one  quadrennium  the  ranks  were  broken  and  three 
called  hence. 

The  Dollar  Money  Law,  passed  in  1872,  was 
amended  at  this  session,  allowing  the  Conferences 
to  retain  at  home  40  per  cent,  instead  of  30  per  cent.* 
This  year  also  saw  a  reorganization  of  the  Educa- 
tional Department,  which  had  its  origin  in  1876. 
Endowment  Day  was  established,  and  a  Secretary 
of  Education  elected — Rev.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  D.D., 
with  a  General  Board,  under  whose  special  man- 
agement the  Department  was  to  be  conducted.  This 
provided  for  the  distribution  of  the  Endowment  Fund 
raised  through  certain  legitimate  channels,  including 
the  day  set  apart  throughout  the  connection — the 
3d  Sabbath  in  each  September.  From  this  point  on 
the  Educational  movement  has  been  steadily  for- 
ward. Of  this  we  shall  speak  elsewhere  at  greater 
length,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  rise  and 
growth  of  Education  in  the  South,which,  like  all  else 
in  this  region,  has  been  most  marvelous. 

It  was  in  the  November  following  that  the  Macon 
Annual     Conference   held    its  third  session   in   St. 


*This  change  was  strongly  advocated  by  Rev.  G.  L.  Jackson  and  the 
writer.  The  opponents  thought  it  would  be  detrimental  to  the  support  of 
the  Bishops  and  the  General  Officers ;  but  the  writer  believed  that  by  leav- 
ing more  money  with  the  Conferences  they  would  increase  the  amounts. 
This  has  been  verified  by  the  increase  of  Dollar  Money  over  50  per  cent. 
We  are  confident  that  the  Sixth  Episcopal  District  alone  will  raise  §80,000 
in  this  quadrennium; 
11 


162  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

James'  Church,  Columbus.  It  opened  the  19th  with 
our  new  Bishop,  James  A.  Shorter,  as  the  presiding; 
Bishop — his  first  welcome  to  Georgia. 

The  Educational  meeting  received  his  hearty  sup- 
port and  substantial  aid  in $2 5  for  the  cause.  Bishop 
Dickerson  was  also  present  and  preached  at  the 
morning  service  of  the  Sabbath,  upon  "Christ  our 
Evidence,"  from  Hebrews  ii  18-9.  "But  now  we 
see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  him,  but  we  see 
Jesus."  It  was  an  eloquent  outburst,  logical  and 
learned  as  well,  from  the  lips  of  one  who  was  so 
soon  to  see  Jesus,  "not  in  a  glass  darkly,"  but  "face 
to  face." 

The  session  passed  most  pleasantly.  Brother 
Levi  L.  Reynolds,  Wm.  T.  Norris  and  Elias  H. 
Miller  were  ordained  to  the  office  of  deacon,  and 
Thomas  Williams,  James  H.  Johnson,  Hudson  W. 
Whitaker,  Jesse  B.  Reese,  Lawson  G.  Burnett, 
Owen  W.  Daniels,  Francis  Boddie,  Wm.  Thornton 
and  Emanuel  Wimbish  to,  that  of  elder.  Bishop 
Dickerson  administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  at  the  conclusion  of  the  ordination,  and  at 
the  night  service  the  writer  conducted  a  Conference 
Love  Feast  with  a  densely  crowded  church.  It  was 
undeniably  a  season  of  "spiritual  refreshing." 

Brother  Crawford  Wimberly  had  died.  The  ses- 
sion closed  with  the  adjuration  from  the  Bishop  to 
"go  to  your  charges  and  do  the  very  best  you  can." 

The  North  Georgia  Conference,  having  changed 
its  time  of  meeting,  convened  before  the  close  of  the 
year,  the  3d  of  December,  (1884)  in  Pierce's  Chapelv 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.  163 

Athens.  In  the  opening  remarks  Bishop  Shorter 
made  some  very  just,  practical  remarks,  saying 
among  other  things,  "  It  does  not  matter  so  much 
what  opinions  the  brethren  have  of  my  predeces- 
sors, if  you  only  keep  them  to  yourselves, "  also, 
"  you  can  praise  all  the  other  Bishops  just  as  much 
as  you  please,  if  you  only  do  a  greater  work  under 
my  administration." 

The  Bishop  announced  the  transfers  of  Revs.  L. 
E.  Hall,  C.  S.  Green  and  Andrew  Griffin,  from  the 
Macon  Conference  to  the  North  Georgia  Confer- 
ence, and  their  names  were  placed  on  the  roll  at  the 
opening. 

Bishop  Shorter  was  intensely  interested  in  the 
Missionary  cause,  and  he  favored  it  and  furthered  it 
in  every  way  possible.  A  Missionary  Bishop  in 
his  early  work  of  organizing  Churches  and  Con- 
ferences, he  knew  the  need  of  all  the  aid  that  could 
come  from  the  various  organizations  of  a  church  in- 
terested in  the  Missionary  work  at  home  and  abroad. 
He  knew,  too,  how  to  interest  the  Church  when 
there  seemed  no  spirit  in  the  movement,  which 
was  best  of  all.  At  the  anniversary  of  the  Confer- 
ence Missionary  Society  $110.35  were  raised. 

The  annual  sermon  was  preached  by  the  writer 
from  II  Timothy,  iv:  5-8,  and  of  it  the  Secretary  of 
the  Conference  was  pleased  to  say:  "Our  pen 
would  fail  us  if  we  should  attempt  to  follow  him  as 
he  led  us  through  trials  and  difficulties,  clouds  and 
darkness,  and  finally  brought  us  out  into  the  glorious 
liberty  wherewith  Christ    has  made  us  free.     The 


164  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

sermon  is  one  that  will  not  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  heard  it  for  years  to  come;  neither  can  the 
minister  fail  to  fight  harder  and  more  bravely  for 
the  Master.  He  spoke  of  the  advance  made  by  the 
gospel  of  Christ;  how  men  had  been  made  to  respect 
it  and  its  ministers.  He  compared  the  Christian 
victory  with  that  of  the  memorable  Kimball  House 
fire  in  Atlanta  over  the  brave  firemen  whose  labors 
cannot  be  forgotten,  and  the  congregation  was 
clothed  in  wonder  at  the  power  of  God,  as  displayed 
in  the  preaching  of  His  word.  " 

At  the  hour  set  for  fraternal  greetings,  the  Con- 
ference received  Rev.  G.  V.  Clark,  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  who  said  that  his  object  was 
to  express  his  brotherly  love,  and  one  of  his  great- 
est desires  was  that  "  we  may  be  one.  "  He  ex- 
tended greeting  and  asked  hearty  cooperation  in 
the  grand  and  noble  work  of  Education  and  Tem- 
perance. 

Rev.  J.  G.  Yeiser  made  a  vigorous  response  and 
declared  that  in  such  a  grand  cause  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  would  always  be  found  with  a  shoulder  to 
the  wheel,  shoving  on  her  part.  Bishop  Turner 
was  happily  with  us  a  portion  of  the  session,  glad 
to  meet  the  brethren  once  more,  and  at  the  evening 
meeting  of  the  third  day  he  spoke  at  length  of  the 
incidents  and  circumstances  which  attended  the 
origin  and  maturing  of  the  literary  organization  of 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  an  organization  he  has  done 
so  much  to  forward.  With  speeches  by  Rev. 
Clark  and   the  writer,  who  mentioned  the  difficul- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEAKS   OF    FREEDOM.  165 

ties  he  encountered  in  founding  Morris-Brown  Col- 
lege, the  evening's  exercises,  though  according  to  no 
definite  program,  passed  off,  Bishop  Turner,  pre- 
siding. 

C.  C.  Cargiie,  D.  J.  McGhee,  Jr.,  A.  J.  Wilker- 
son,  Cornelius  White,  S.  B.  Sims,  F.  R.Richardson, 
J.  T.  Riggins,  H.J.  Johnson  and  W.  G.  Smith  were 
admitted  on  trial.  L.  A.  Waddell,  W.  W.  McCrary 
and  Nathan  Berry  withdrew  from  the  connection. 

Bishop  Shorter,  assisted  by  Elders  C.  L.  Brad- 
well,  C.  M.  Manning,  H.  T.  Cargiie  and  A.  S- 
Jackson,  ordained  the  following  brethren  deacons: 
Revs.  S.  J.  West,  A.  L.  Shaw,  W.  B.  Anderson,  T. 
H.  Mallory,  L.  E.  Hall,  N.  L.  Holmes,  W.  L.  Rus- 
sellj  .  S.  Hendricks,  assisted  by  J.  S.  Hamilton, 
R.  Graham,  G.  W.  H.  Williams  and  A.  J.  Miller. 
He  also  ordained  the  following  for  elders:  Revs. 
Cosmos  P.  Jordan,  Daniel  Strickland,  Samuel  Floyd 
Prichard,  Burgess  Johnson,  Alfred  Emanuel  Wal- 
ker, Charles  Henry  Carter  and  Lewis  McClaren. 

Rev.  Andrew  Brown  officiated  at  the  sacrament, 
which  was  a  solemn  occasion. 

The  writer  afterwards  was  called  upon  to  state  to 
the  Conference  the  severe  illness  of  Bishop  Dick- 
erson,  who  desired  to  go  home.  He  also  made  the 
motion  that  Conference  send  Rev.  E.  A.  Shepherd 
to  accompany  him.  This  was  done,  and  the  Bishop 
left  us  for  the  last  time  for  his  home  in  Columbia, 
S.  C.     There  he  died  the  20th  of  December.* 


*I  can  never  forget  his  look  as  he  bade  me  good-bye  at  the  depot.    It 
was  good-bye  until  we  meet  in  heaven.    The  last  sermon  I  heard  him 


166  AFKICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  J 

At  this  Conference  the  writer  offered  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  which  was  passed: 

"  Whereas,  Father  Peter  McLain,  on  account  of 
age,  has  almost  become  unable  to  travel,  but  does 
not  desire  to  locate, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  North  Georgia  Annual  Con- 
ference make  him  Conference  Missionary,  with 
power  to  travel  throughout  the  Conference,  visiting 
any  or  all  of  the  churches,  giving  his  aid  in  mission 
work  in  whatever  way  he  may  be  able,  even  to  the 
starting  of  new  work.  Also  that  the  brethren  al- 
low him  to  preach,  if  he  desires,  and  give  him  one 
collection  during  the  day." 

North  Georgia  stood  at  this  Conference  with  15,- 
000  members,  and  $1,991.90  of  Dollar  Money. 

The  Georgia  Annual  Conference  met  in  Albany, 
Ga.,  January  14,  1885,  and  extended  its  session  to 
the  20th.  It  was  a  Conference  marked  by  tender 
feelings  for  the  death  that  had  so  recently  come 
home  to  us  all — to  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  and  to  the 
Georgia  Conference  in  particular.  Bishop  Shorter 
was  present  to  preside.  Rev.  M.  B.  Salter  preached 
the  Annual  Sermon  from  the  text,  Acts  xxvi:2  2; 
"  Having  therefore  obtained  help  of  God,  I  con- 
tinue unto  this  day  witnessing  both  to  small  and 
great  saying,  none  other  things  than  those  which 
the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come." 


preach  was  a  thanksgiving  sermon  in  Atlanta,  November,  1884.  Psalms 
xxii  :15 ;  "  As  for  me  I  will  behold  Thy  face  in  righteousness,  I  shall  be 
satisfied  when  I  awake  with  Thy  likeness."  He  then  said  to  me,  "Gaines 
I  have  preached  my  last  sermon,  and  I  now  advise  you  to  preach  a 
whole  Christ. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  167 

The  afternoon  session  of  the  second  day  was  de- 
voted to  the  memorial  services  upon  Bishop  Dicker- 
son.  Bishop  Shorter  presided.  The  services 
opened  with  Presiding  Elder  J.  A.  Wood  singing 
the  hymn,  "  What  Though  the  Conquering  Death;' 
iprayer  by  Rev.  Samuel  Stewart;  singing  of  hymn 
"  O,  Where  Shall  Rest  be  Found,"  bv  Rev.  D.  T. 
Green,  North  Georgia  Conference;  reading  of  90th 
Psalm  b}-  Rev.  H.  B.  Dowdell;  singing  of  hymn 
■"  Nearer  My  God  to  Thee,"  by  the  writer;  reading 
15th  chapter  I.  Corinthians,  by  Rev.  M.  B.  Salter; 
singing  by  Rev.  S.  M.  Clark  of  hymn  "  Hear 
What  the  Voice  of  Heaven  Proclaims."  The 
writer  was  introduced  to  the  Conference,  and  spoke 
■briefly  of  the  birth,  work  and  career  of  Bishop 
Dickerson,  and  was  followed  by  remarks  from  Pre- 
siding Elder  J.  A.  Wood,  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Adams 
singing,  •  then  prayer  by  Presiding  Elder  Henry 
Strickland  closed  the  exercises,  aside  from  the  reso- 
lutions of  condolence,  which  were  read  and 
adopted,  and  now  form  a  part  of  the  Journal  of  the 
Georgia  Conference. 

Death  had  also  claimed  Revs.  M.  Dillard,  J.  M. 
Cox,  A.  J.  Johnson,  all  of  whom  died  in  the  faith 
and  on  the  field  of  labor,  leaving  families  to  mourn 
their  loss.  Revs.  W.  H.  Powell,  Peyton  Stokes 
and  John  McDougal  spoke  feelingly  upon  their 
deaths. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  define  the  line  be- 
tween Savannah  and  Macon  districts.  W.  H.  Ham- 
mond, L.  J.    Lester,     H.  C.    Hawk,  R.    Richards, 


168  AMRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

B.  J.  Shackleford,  J.  B.  Epton,  C.  H.  Williams,  and 
W.  M.  Jefferson  were  admitted  on  trial.  D.  W- 
Moore,  E.  J.  Bush,  Boston  Scott,  F.  H.  Hender- 
son, H.  L.  Watson,  H.  M.  Lofton  and  Wm.  Garri- 
son were  presented  and  ordained  deacons.  A.  W. 
Walton  was  ordained  a  local  deacon.  J.  H.  Adams, 
J.  R.  Bennett,  M.  J.  Ingraham,  Alex.  Glover,  Wm. 
Askew,  John  Hayes,  R:  H.  Stewart  and  C.  P.. 
ohnson  were  ordained  elders. 

Morris-Brown  College  received  an  apportion- 
ment this  year  of  $535.40.  The  Dollar  Money 
reached  a  total  of  $2,473.95,  of  which  the  percen- 
tage was  $989.58. 

It  was  not  until  November  that  the  Macon  Con- 
ference held  its  fourth  session.  It  then  convened 
upon  the  18th  in  St  John's  Church,  Eatonton,  Ga. 
Bishop  Shorter  presided,  and  in  his  appointment  of 
committees  remarked  that  no  committee  was  more 
important  than  that  on  Admissions,  especially  as  it 
had  to  do  with  third  and  fourth  year  studies. 
He  said  "  The  sun  is  now  too  high  to  admit  the 
election  of  brothers  to  orders  when  they  are  un- 
able to  Read  the  ritual.  God  has  not  called  every 
good  man  into  the  higher  orders  of  the  ministry. 
If  brethren  do  not  improve  it  is  not  God's  fault  nor 
th/*  fault  of  the  Conference.  Any  one  who  wants 
to  learn  how  to  read  can  learn.  I  do  not  wish  any 
one  recommended  for  orders  who  cannot  read 
plainly."  It  was  wise  and  timely  for  such  a  posi- 
tive statement. 

Bishop    Campbell    was    present,    as     was    also 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  16^ 

Dr.  B.  T.  Tanner— now (1890)  Bishop  B.  T.  Tanner 
— then  editor  of  the  A.M.  E.  Church  Review;  and 
at  the  missionary  meeting  both  spoke  with  fervor. 
The  annual  sermon  was  preached  by  H.  H.  Taylor 
who  spoke  from  Romans  viii:  18,  upon  the  experi- 
ence, of  the  Christian,  the  minister's  burdens  and  his 
hope,  and  enjoined  them  to  be  steadfast.  Both  the 
missionary  and  educational  meetings  were  full  of 
interest  and  of  financial  success. 

Arrangements  were  made  to  comply  with  the 
request  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Financial  Board 
of  the  church,  who  asked  for  aid  in  the  embarrassed 
condition  of  the  church  to  the  extent  of  the  Confer- 
ences retaining  but  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  Dollar 
Money  instead  of  forty.  This  aid  was  extended  by 
a  motion  to  loan  the  Financial  Board  ten  per  cent. 

The  Trustees  of  Morris-Brown  College  were 
allowed  to  further  their  work  and  settle  debts  by 
borrowing  funds  under  legal  advice,  being  restricted 
to  five  thousand  dollars.  The  Conference  Literary 
meeting  was  a  success,  showing  considerable  and 
growing  enthusiasm  in  the  essays  and  discussions. 

The  Sunday  services  consisted  of  a  sermon  by 
Bishop  Campbell  at  1 1  a.  m.  and  by  Bishop  Shorter 
at  3  p.  m.  The  former  was  a  powerful  discourse 
on  "Grace,"  while  the  latter  was  a  pithy,  practical 
one  upon  the  relationship  of  husband  and  wife,  with 
Eph.  v:  25,  for  a  text.  Dr.  Tanner  preached  at 
night  upon  what  our  physical  nature,  our  intellect- 
ual nature  and  our  religious  nature  cost  us — a  feast 
of  good  things  for  one  day. 


170  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

Following  the  suggestion  thrown  out  by  the 
Bishop,  but  two  were  admitted  on  trial — B.  L. 
Jackson  and  Claiborne  H.  Warren.  The  deacons 
ordained  were,  Andrew  Bingham,  Alfred  Sapp, 
Elijah  Fulls,  Richard  L.  Butts,  Austin  Flewellen, 
Daniel  Smith,  Newry  Ellison,  W.  J.  Hall,  Sylves- 
ter Wilder,  Daniel  K.  Knight,  Homer  Shaw,  Green 
York,  Geo.  Wesley  Neal,  Geo.  Copeland,  Robert 
J.  Bailey,  Levi  L.  Reynolds,  Wm.  T.  Norris,  Felix 
Foster,  Robert  M.  S.  Taylor,  Simon  Thomas,  San 
Francisco  Andrews. 

Seven  members  had  died:  the  veteran  Samuel 
W.  Drayton,  James  H.  Johnson,  Owen  W.  Daniels, 
Wm.  Ross,  Preston  B.  Peters,  Eli  R.  Trby  and 
Warren  R.  Davis.  Revs.  Andrew  Griffin,  R.  R. 
Downs  and  Joshua  F.  Brown  were  transferred  to 
North  Georgia  Conference,  and  J.  T.  Crayton  from 
the  Georgia  Conference  to  Macon. 

Bishop  Shorter  made  a  practical  suggestion  in 
calling  the  Presiding  Elders'  attention  to  the  impor- 
tance of  employing  those  brethren  who  have  been 
admitted  to  the  Conference,  but  who  were  without 
appointments,  instead  of  those  who  have  not  been 
received.  Nearly  all  the  points  were  filled  by  ap- 
pointment, and  but  few  changes  in  the  District  oc- 
curred. The  Georgia  Conference  had  desired  to 
change  some  work  from  Macon  Conference  to  its 
own  work,  but  the  request  was  declined  and  Ma- 
con and  Savannah  District  remained  as  before. 

The  Dollar  Money  reached  a  total  of  $2,848.05 
and    reported    17,162     members     with    $2,300.89 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  171 

raised  for  schools  of  the  circuit,  and  a  Children's 
Day  collection  of  $189.55.  Endowment  Day 
brought  in  $621.20  and  Morris-Brown  College 
especially  had  raised  $208.75. 

An  interval  of  little  more  than  one  week  and  the 
Noith  Georgia  Conference  assembled  in  Griffin, 
Ga.,  in  St.  Philip's  Chapel,  December  2,  adjourn- 
ing the  6th.  The  same  Bishops  were  in  attendance, 
and  presiding,  and  C.  P.  Jordan  was  made  Confer- 
ence Secretary. 

Dr.  Tanner,  Dr.  B.  F.  Lee  and  others  were 
present,  and  the  educational  meeting  was  greatly 
assisted  by  encouraging  words  from  the  Bishops 
and  these  visitors. 

Rev.  T.  W.  Haigler  presented  an  essay  this  year, 
also  a  poem  on  Africa,  both  of  which  were  highly 
creditable  for  this  young  man,  and  showed  the 
trend  of  his  thoughts  which  he  has  put  into  action. 
The  Reports  upon  all  subjects  were  concise  and  of 
a  cheering  nature. 

E.  W.  Lee,  Peter  Williams,  S.  P.  Cary  and  J.  A. 
Wyatt  were  admitted  on  trial.  Richard  Fountain, 
Lewis  Baxter,  Floyd  Griffin,  Chas.  W.  Simmons, 
Chas.  C.  Cargile,  Solomon  Berry  Lyons  were 
elected  and  ordained  deacons.  George  Towns, 
Matthew  Wilkerson,  Pryor  and  Nathan  Price,  local 
deacons,  while  Hilliard  D.  Canady,  Elijah  H.  Zeig- 
ler,  James  Ricks,  Joel  Stevens,  Wm.  Harkness, 
Evans  Davis  were  ordained  elders. 

The  transfers  this  year  were  Rev.  R.  E.  Wilson, 
from  South  Carolina  Conference  to   North  Georgia 


172  AFRICAN   METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ) 

Conference,  Rev.  Peyavia  O'Connell,  from  Ohio 
Conference  to  the  North  Georgia,  also  Rev.  R.  R. 
Down  from  Macon  to  the  same.  Rev.  T.  H.  Mal- 
lory  took  a  transfer  from  the  North  Georgia  to  the 
Macon  Conference. 

The  four  Presiding  Elder  Districts  reported  fully. 
Atlanta  District,  under  W.  J.  Gaines,  had  done  well, 
with  four  stations,  nine  circuits  and  one  mission. 
Griffin  District,  under  A.  Brown,  showed  an  increase 
of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  members  and  several  small 
churches  organized.  Marietta,  under  C.  L.  Brad- 
well,  exhibited  an  increase  in  both  members  and 
finances.  Athens,  under  A.  J.  Miller,  showed  that 
this  district  had  more  than  doubled  its  Dollar  Money 
since  1881.  There  was  new  work  at  Athens  and 
at  Goose  Pond,  in  Black  Creek  Mission,  as  well  as 
at  Carnesville  and  Hart  County. 

Edward  Waters  had  died  this  year,  doing  good 
work  at  Cave  Spring  Circuit.  So  closed  the  year 
1885. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF   FREEDOM.  173 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


A    TRIO    OF    CONFERENCES. 


The  first  Conference  of  the  year  1886  was  that  of 
the  Georgia,  held  in  Hawkinsville,  Ga.,  Jan.  20-25. 
Bishop  Shorter  presided,  with  the  sympathy  of  the 
Conference.  He  had  been  laboring  under  severe 
burdens  which  had  served  to  render  it  impossible  for 
him  to  make  his  visits  as  extended  as  he  desired  to 
make  them.  Bereavements  in  his  household,  and 
his  wife's  severe  illness  at  the  present  time,  dis- 
tressed him  greatly.  But  with  the  sympathy  there 
were  no  complaints  to  make,  and  later,  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  Macon  Conference,  Presiding  Elder  S.  B. 
Jones  gave  voice  to  that  sentiment,  which  dwelt  in 
all  hearts,  that  there  was  no  fault  to  find,  they  only 
implored  the  help  of  the  Divine  One  in  his  behalf. 

The  Secretary  of  the  preceding  year  was  elected. 
Rev.  J.  C.  Embry,  General  Business  Manager  of 
the  Book  Concern,  was  one  of  the  visitors  and  spoke 
pointedly  on  the  subject  of  business.  Dr.  J.  M. 
Townsend  was  also  present  as  Missionary  Secretary 
and  emphasized  the  need  of  work  in  special  fields. 

The  Conference  had  no  special  business  of  im- 
portance before  it.  The  usual  work  went  on.  The 
sermons  were  good  and  well  attended.     The  trans- 


174  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  J 

fers  were  Revs.  J.  S.  Flipper,  Geo.  Washington  and 
J.  A.  Cary  to  the  North  Georgia  work,  to  be 
stationed  respectively  at  Big  Bethel,  in  Atlanta, 
Dalton  and  Washington,  Ga.  Rev.  R.  R.  Downs 
and  C.  W.  Warren  from  North  Georgia  to  Georgia, 
and  stationed  at  Dawson  and  Bainbridge,  and  M.  R. 
Wilson  from  the  Ohio  Conference  to  the  Georgia, 
and  stationed  at  Boston,  Ga. 

The  Conference  followed  the  example  of  the 
North  Georgia  Conference  at  its  last  session,  and 
loaned  the  Financial  Board  of  the  Church  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  Dollar  Money  to  help  tide  affairs  over 
the  embarrassment. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were  J.  B. 
Walker,  G.  H.  Green,  J.  Griffin,  John  Hadley,  G. 
W.  Butler,  S.  B.  Shaw,  Enoch  Roberts.  C.  C. 
Warren,  L.  Crawford,  Z.  Granderson,  Wm.  Jeffer- 
son, J.  P.  Mitchell,  J.  B.  Epton,  S.  P.  Jackson,  W. 
H.  Hamburg,  S.  M.  Addy  and  S.  M.  Matchett  were 
elected  and  ordained  deacons,  with  J.  H.  Wilson 
and  H.  L.  Pratt,  local.  The  elders  were  R.  V. 
Smith,  W.  H.  Hamilton,  R.  W.  Fickland,  Abram 
Martin,  S.  H.  Brown  and  J.  H.  Harris. 

Resolutions  were  passed  to  the  effect  that  a  recur- 
rence of  a  deficit  in  the  sum  necessary  to  pay  the 
way  of  delegates  to  General  Conference,  as  in  1884, 
might  be  prevented.  Each  pastor  was,  therefore, 
required  to  bring  one  cent  per  member  to  the  ensu- 
ing Conference,  and  each  Presiding  Elder  one  dollar 
to  prepare  for  the  needed  sum  in  1888. 

The  appointments  were  made,  and  adjournment 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  175- 

took  place  after  admonitory  counsel  to  the  preachers 
as  to  their  work.  The  Dollar  Money  reached  $2,- 
509.40  from  the  six  Districts  of  the  Georgia  Con- 
ference in  1886. 

November  17th  was  the  date  npon  which  the 
Macon  Georgia  Annual  Conference  convened  in 
Barnesville  this  year.  Rev.  W.  C.  Banton,  the  Sec- 
retary of  1885,  was  again  chosen  for  the  office,  and 
Revs.  Andrew  W.  Lowe  and  Jordan  R.  Gay  were 
made  assistants  by  himself. 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  Smith  preached  the  annual  sermon 
from  the  text,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye 
are  my  disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another," 
and  in  his  discourse  he  dwelt  upon  this  Christ-like 
love  as  a  badge  of  liberty,  of  fidelity  and  union,  em- 
phasizing it  by  experiences  in  betrayed  trusts  and 
false  friendships.  It  was  a  strong,  practical  sermon, 
and  one  to  do  much  good. 

The  following  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial: 
Allen  R.  Cooper,  D.  J.  Lawrence,  E.  J.  Knight,  H. 
H.  Johnson,  G.  W.  Hill,  A.  Colbert,  C.  J.  Jones, 
James  Mitchell,  Joshua  Barnes,  Peyton  Burns  and 
Geo.  C.  Davis.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Sunday 
services,  when  Bishop  Campbell  had  preached  to  a 
large  congregation,  Bishop  Shorter  proceeded  to  the 
ordination  services.  Rev.  Andrew  W.  Lowe  pre- 
sented Wm.  R.  Gallius,  Edward  D.  Gorman,  Archi- 
bald B .  Gibson,  Robert  B.  Sanford  and  Daniel  Mc- 
Ghee,  Jr.,  to  be  ordained  deacons.  After  this  ser- 
vice was  concluded  Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson  presented 
Revs.  Daniel  K.  Knight,  George  Wesley  Neal  and 


176  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

Tarpley  H.  Mallory  to  be  ordained  elders,  after 
which  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  ad- 
ministered first  to  the  newly  ordained  ministers,  and 
then  to  the  others  present. 

Bishop  Shorter  brought  up  the  necessity  of  help 
for  the  Metropolitan  Church,  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
and  upon  consideration  of  the  matter,  the  Confer- 
ence voted  $100  to  its  assistance. 

At  this  time  the  writer  had  the  privilege  of  ad- 
dressing the  Conference  concerning  the  interest  of 
Morris-Brown  College.  An  opportunity  had  been 
given  by  which  the  manufacturers  of  a  brand  of  soap, 
known  as  the  "  Big  Real,"  would  contribute  to  the 
funds  of  the  institution.  As  it  was  a  perfectly  legiti- 
mate and  honorable  way  of  gaining  money  for  the 
College,  he  pressed  the  claims  of  this  mode  of  ob- 
taining funds  by  urging  the  brethren  to  recommend 
this  brand  to  the  people. 

Cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness,  and  when  clean- 
liness could  be  made  an  ally  to  godliness  and  educa- 
tion, as  it  would  in  this  case,  it  seemed  the  right  thing 
to  uplift  our  work  by  its  help. 

The  results  have  proved  that  we  did  not  err.  In 
a  square,  fair,  business-like  manner  our  College  has 
been  helped  to  the  extent  of  $1,600.  At  this  time 
(1886)  $225  had  been  received. 

Our  people  must  use.  this  necessary  article  in 
great  abundance  in  the  work  of  washing,  to  which 
so  many  of  us  owe  a  livelihood.  It  was  a  pleasure 
to  them  to  know  that  even  thus  the  poorest  and 
humblest     could    have    a    hand  .in    erecting     the 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  177 

walls  of  an  institution  which  would  bear  a  hand  in 
raising  future  generations  to  planes  of  higher  work. 
God  blesses  the  smallest  thing  which  is  used  in 
forwarding  a  good  work.  He  blesses  the  humblest 
instrument  and  the  poorest  toiler  engaged  in  it. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Embry,  General  Manager,  and  other 
General  officers  were  present,  as  well  as  a  number 
of  brethren  from  other  Conferences  and  churches. 
The  statement  from  the  Educational  Department 
for  the  past  year  showed  a  good  year's  work;  the 
District  Secretary  had  sent  in  $7,898.28,  the  Col- 
leges and  schools  had  raised  $28,163.58,  which, 
added  to  the  contributions  from  Annual  Confer- 
ences of  $3,984.15  and  other  sources,  including 
$1,392.50  from  the  Financial  Secretary,  gave  a 
total  of  $43,164.49.  From  this  $42,733.58  had 
gone  into  the  proper  school  channels,  as  provided 
for  by  law,  and  for  legitimate  expenses,  leaving  a 
balance  on  hand  of  $852.33. 

Conference  appropriated  $5°°  to  Morris-Brown 
College,  and  so  the  Educational  work  was  well 
cared  for.  One  of  the  most  interesting  reports  was 
that  of  the  Trustees  of  Morris-Brown  College. 
Two  teachers  were  in  the  school,  but  the  circum- 
stances forbade  more  than  primary  work  at  present. 
We  had  considered  the  efforts  made  by  some  of  the 
ministers  very  feeble  in  making  a  success  of  the  days 
set  apart  for  raising  of  money  for  that  purpose;  but 
even  then  the  total  rolled  up  to  $3,776. 15  upon  the 
side  of  receipts,  with  $3,898.43  to  face  it  in  disburse- 
12 


178  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

merits.  This,  with  a  debt  of  about  $4,000,  was- 
what  the  trustees  had  to  face.  But  God  was  good, 
and  the  following  years  prosperous  ones.  Now 
(1890)  the  last  dollar  has  been  paid. 

Rev.  Wm.  Thornton,  Newrey  Ellison,  Wm.  Par- 
ker, Rev.  Henry  Daniels  (superannuated)  and 
Rev.  Peter  C.  Crews,  (supernumerary),  were  re- 
ported in  the  death  list  this  year. 

The  Electoral  College  of  Laymen,  within  the 
Macon  Conference,  was  voted  to  be  held  in  Macon, 
in  July — first  Wednesday. 

The  transfers  were,  Rev.  S.  H.  Robertson  and 
Rev.  H.  H.  Taylor,  to  the  Georgia  Conference, 
Jesse  B.  Reese  to  the  North  Georgia,  John  W. 
Recks,  Prince  L.  Jackson  and  Shannon  R.  Roberts, 
to  the  Alabama,  while  in  return  Elder  Haley  Hardy 
came  from  the  Georgia,  and  Brothers  Tarpley,  Holt, 
Mallory  and  Daniel  J.  McGhee  from  the  North 
Georgia. 

The  statistics  reported  $2,831.30  for  Dollar 
Money  and  16,309  members. 

The  North  Georgia  Conference  convened  shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  Macon  Conference,  which  took 
place  November  17th,  the  former  meeting  in  Allen 
Temple,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  December  1.  At  the  open- 
ing in  the  morning  it  became  the  writer's  sad  duty 
to  communicate  to  Conference  the  receipt  of  a  tele- 
gram from  Bishop  Shorter,  informing  him  of  the 
death  of  his  wife.  Bishop  Campbell  also  sent  a 
dispatch,  and  under  its  orders  the  writer  organized 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  179 

the  Conference  and  then  adjourned  to  await  Bishop 
Campbell's  arrival  at  3  p.  m. 

Anxious  to  be  at  his  post  of  Christian  duty,  Bishop 
Shorter  had  hoped  to  the  last  to  attend  this  and  the 
Carolina  Conference,  but  the  change  summoned 
him  to  another  sacred  duty,  and  he  had  requested 
Bishop  Campbell  to  assume  these  duties  and  act  in 
his  stead;  so  that,  instead  of  being  Associate  Bishop 
this  time,  Bishop  Campbell  presided  again  over  our 
work. 

Bishop  Shorter  had  already  lost  child  after  child, 
as  it  were — two  daughters  and  grand  children  had 
recently  died;  his  son-in-law,  his  mother-in-law- — all 
had  been  borne  out  from  his  doorway  in  the  short 
space  of  less  than  five  years,  and  now,  as  his  wife 
passed  over  the  river,  he  was  to  be  left  alone  indeed. 
Bishop  Campbell  had  gone  out  of  his  way  to  see  her 
for  the  last  time,  and,  as  he  feelingly  spoke  of  her 
and  of  the  Bishop's  loss,  all  felt  with  the  speaker  that 
Bishop  Shorter  was  indeed  plunged  into  such  depths 
as  prompted  the  Psalmist  to  say,  "  Deep  calleth  unto 
deep,  at  the  noise  of  the  waterspouts  all  thy  waves 
and  thy  billows  have  gone  over  me." 

But  it  was  not  to  be  long  a  parting,  for  in  less 
than  a  twelve- month  the  Bishop  himself  was  to  join 
her  on  the  other  side. 

The  Missionary  meeting,  like  that  at  all  Confer- 
ences, was  most  interesting  and  important.  The 
writer  had  lately  met  a  missionary  and  his  wife 
about  to  sail  for  Africa* — a  man  eminently  compe- 

*Thomas  W.  Haigler  and  wife. 


180  AFKICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  J 

tent  and  qualified  for  the  ,work,  and  the  fact  that 
there  was  so  much  work  to  be  done  fired  the  souls 
of  all  present  to  aid  in  some  way  and  have  a  part  in 
the  grand  work.  Dr.  B.  F.  Lee,  Editor  of  the 
Christian  Recorder,  gave  a  glowing  account  of 
those  who  had  sacrificed  themselves  in  the  cause, 
and  at  last  Bishop  Campbell  spoke  in  his  character- 
istic manner: 

Sixty  years  before  he  had  sat  at  the  feet  of  Bishop 
Allen.  Then  there  were  only  about  2,600  mem- 
bers, counting  those  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  from 
New  York  to  New  Orleans.  Out  of  that  number 
only  Bishop  Campbell  and  Father  David  Smith  were 
then  living.**  Bishop  Campbell  was  the  only  one 
living  who  joined  the  church  under  him.  It  is  not 
strange  that  he  should  speak  of  himself  as  the  one 
connecting  link  with  the  Church  of  that  date,  as 
mentioned  elsewhere. 

The  ordination  of  deacons  took  place  December 
5th.  Bishop  Shorter,  having  returned  from  his  sad 
journey,  delivered  the  charge  to  the  following  class: 
A.  Y.  Pierce,  R.  E.  Wilson,  James  Watts,  Simon 
Alexander,  Mack  Parify,  J  .  R.  Phillips,  R.  H.  Rich- 
ards, A.  J.  Wilkerson,  L.  Leonard,  J.  T.  Riggins, 
S.  P.  Cary,  E.  W.  Lee  and  F.  R.  Richardson.  He 
was  assisted  by  Elders  J.  G.  Yeiser,  D.  J.  McGhee 
and  H.  D.  Bush.  Following  this  came  the  ordination 
of  elders,  and  Elders  E.  A.  Shepard,  A.  S.  Jackson, 
M.  E.  Cox  and  the  writer  assisted  in  the  ceremony 


**Father  David  Smith  died  at  his  home  in  Xeina,  Ohio,  1888,  at  the  age  of 
104  years. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  181 

of  ordaining  to  that  office  Henry  Crittenden,  J.  A. 
Johnson,  A.  L.  Shaw,  N.  L.  Holmes,  S.  J.  West  and 
W.  H.  Shearwood  from  the  CM.  E.  Church.  R.  T. 
Matthews,  G.  W.  Malone,  R.  H.  Hayne,  Robert 
Caloway,  J.  H.  Heard  and  A.  J.  Carter  were  the 
newly  admitted  this  year. 

The  Conference  was  called  to  mourn  at  this  ses- 
sion not  only  the  death  of  the  wife  of  the  presiding 
Bishop,  but  that  of  Rev.  H.  T.  Cargle  and  of  Rev. 
David  Anderson,  who  had  passed  away,  as  had  also 
one  of  the  sisters — a  woman  full  of  Christian  labors 
— Mrs.  Mary  V.  E.  Yeiser,  the  wife  of  Rev.  John 
G.  Yeiser,  then  pastor  of  Allen  Temple,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

It  was  at  this  session  that  the  venerable  Bishop 
Campbell  took  occasion  to  remark  that  which  can- 
not be  said  too  often — that  no  brother  should  mark 
another  for  personal  affairs;  "all  personal 
affairs  may  be  personally  settled,  but  public  affairs 
must  be  publicly  settled."  It  is  a  rule  which  works 
well  always,  and  much  time  consumed  in  our  Con- 
ferences, together  with  much  space  that  is  occupied 
in  our  minutes,  would  be  saved  if  it  were  followed. 

The  transfers  this  year  were  Deacon  C.  W,  Fos- 
ter from  the  Columbia  to  the  North  Georgia,  Revs. 
M.  W.  Moore  and  J.  L.  Trigg,  of  the  Tennessee 
Conference,  Rev.  Geo.  Washington  from  the  Geor- 
gia, Revs.  W.  C.  Malone  and  P.  W.  Walls  from  the 
West  Tennessee,  Rev.  J.  S.  Flipper  from  the  Geor- 
gia— all  to  the  North  Georgia;  Rev.  E.  W.  Wilson 
from  the  North  Georgia  to  the  South  Carolina  Con- 


182  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

ference,  and  Rev.  Wm.  Harkness  from  the  North 
Georgia  to  the  Macon. 

The  Bishop  gave  as  his  decision  that  the  Confer- 
ence had  no  right  to  transfer  a  brother  to  another 
Conference,  neither  did  a  Bishop  have  the  preroga- 
tive to  transfer  a  brother  unless  his  character  had 
been  passed  upon.  Trouble  having  arisen  from  indis- 
creet acts  and  remarks  of  a  brother,  whose  trial 
happily  ending  in  acknowledgment  of  error  and  par- 
don, led  to  this  decision. 

The  Report  from  the  Publication  Department  of 
the  Church,  under  Rev.  J.  C.  Embry,  as  Business 
Manager,  was  encouraging  this  year,  and  as  the 
"cash  plan"  was  now  a  feature  of  the  work,  there 
was  every  reason  to  hope  for  increased  success  with 
the  support  the  Conferences  should  give.  The  body 
was  asked  to  furnish  some  historical  facts  concern- 
ing the  temperance  cause.  The  request  came 
through  a  communication  from  Prof.  H.  A.  Scomp, 
of  Emory  College,  to  furnish  these  for  a  History  of 
Temperance  to  aid  in  giving  the  position  of  the  A. 
M.  E.  Church  in  regard  to  this  matter.  Temper- 
ance was  an  exciting  theme  in  Georgia  at  that  time, 
and  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  in  the  South  showed, 
through  the  movements  of  some  of  its  leaders  in 
vigorous  defense  of  the  cause  of,  prohibition,  its  po- 
sition upon  the  subject  during  the  years  of  1885- 
86-87. 

The  Presiding  Elders  presented  most  encouraging 
features  in  their  reports.  Griffin  District,  under  P.  E. 
Andrew    Brown  reported  six   new  churches  built, 


OR    TWENTY- FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  183 

•and  660  new  members  added,  with  many  improve- 
ments. 

This  District  sent  $357.15  in  Dollar  Money.  Ma- 
rietta, under  Rev.  C.  L.  Bradwell,  reported  increase 
of  membership  as  1,053  with  improvement  at  nearly 
every  point.  It  brought  up  $587.80  in  Dollar 
Money.  Athens  District,  under  Rev.  R.  Graham, 
reported  good  work  and  extension  by  sending  three 
local  preachers  to  Hart  county,  Lincoln  county  and 
Franklin  county  respectively,  each  one  of  whom  had 
now  land  for  a  church.  The  Dollar  Money  was 
$437-5°-  The  writer's  own  work,  as  Presiding  El- 
der of  the  Atlanta  District,  had  decided  marks  of 
improvement  financially  and  at  most  circuits  and  sta- 
tions spiritually,  as  well.  Allen  Temple,  which 
Rev.  J.  G.  Yeiser  had  lifted  from  a  wooden  frame 
to  a  magnificent  brick,  spoke  for  itself  to  the  body. 
Rev.  J.  T.  Belsaw  had  built  up  our  church  in  Cov- 
ington from  the  weakest  to  the  strongest  congre- 
gation in  the  place;  Rev.  Zeigler,  of  St.  James' 
Mission,  had  built  two  churches  in  Atlanta  suburbs, 
while'Revs.  D.  T.  Green,  ThomasW.  Haigler,  M. 
E.  Cox,  N.  J.  McCombs,  H.  H.  Silas,  S.  B.  Sims, 
S.  J.  West,  N.  L.  Holmes,  C.  C.  Cargile,  S.  C. 
Hendrix,  Matthew  Taylor,  G.  H.  Holmes,  A.  L. 
Shaw,  S.  P.  dry,  Lewis  McClaren,  H.  C.  Boyd, 
P.  O'Connel  and  J.  S.  Flipper,  had  one  and  all 
done  well  at  their  posts.  This  P.  E.  District  raised 
$1,452.75  for  its  Dollar  Money. 

The  Conference  had  as  a  total  $2,835.20  in  Dol- 
lar Money  and  a  membership  reported  as  16,000. 


184  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE      CENTENNIAL      YEAR  OF    AFRICAN    METHODISM. 

The  first  Conference  to  convene  in  the  State  this- 
year — 1887,  was  the  Georgia  Annual  Conference, 
which  opened  its  session  in  Quitman,  Ga.,  January 
14,  in    the  Bethel  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

Bishop  James  Shorter  presided,  with  Rev.  W. 
O.  P.  Sherman  made  chief  Secretary. 

The  missionary  meeting  held  on  the  evening  of 
the  second  day's  session  was  a  success,  with  stimulat- 
ing addresses  by  Rev.  E.  Lowry,  Dr.  W.  D.Johnson, 
the  writer's  efforts  being  added  to  the  others.  A 
collection  of  $124.94  was  taken  up  at  the  close. 

The  work  passed  off  very  smoothly.  E.  L. 
Martin,  J.  T.  Smith,  —  Crittenden,  W.  H.  Holmes, 
W.  H.  Randall  were  admitted  on  trial.  T.  S.  Woody 
E.  B.  Brown,  P.  D.  Davis,  D.  G.  Wilson,  Henry 
Wells,  W.  H.  Walton,  D.  W.  Moore,  John  Austin,. 
O.  N,  Finegan  were  elected  and  ordained  elders,, 
with  James  Delbrough,  James  H.  Holmes  and  W. 
H.  Randal,  local,  the  latter  being  reobligated. 

Henry  Nails  was  the  only  one  whose  death  had 
occurred  in  the  year. 

The  Sunday  services  consisted  of  three  sermons,, 
preached  respectively  bv  Bishop  J.  A.  Shorter,  the 
writer,  and  Rev.  W.    D.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  Secretary 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  185 

of  Education,  in  the  morning,  afternoon  and  evening. 
The  services  drew  out  many  of  the  best  citizens, 
both  colored  and  white. 

The  Conference  was  shocked  to  receive  a  tele- 
gram from  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown,  bearing  the  news 
of  Bishop  R.  H.  Cain's  severe  illness.  Bishop  Cain 
was  then  presiding  Bishop  of  the  First  Episcopal 
District.  Ere  the  month  had  ended  he  was  num- 
bered with  the  dead  having  succumbed  to  that  fatal 
malady,  "Bright  Disease,"  Janaury   24. 

The  members  of  the  Georgia  Conference  at  this 
session  recognized  the  approaching  anniversary  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  by 
resolutions  to  join  themselves  in  a  working  order  to 
be  known  as  the  "Ministers  Centennial  Union  for 
the  Promotion  of  Education."  This  finally  resulted  in 
the  Quarto-Centennial  held  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  in  1890. 

The  six  districts  of  the  Conference  presented  a 
good  showing  in  the  statistical  table.  Savannah 
District,  under  Presiding  Elder  J.  A.  Woods,  sent 
up  $1,327.61  ;Thomasville  District,  under  Presiding 
Elder  Henry  Strickland,  $319.75;  Cuthbert  District, 
under  Presiding  Elder  H.  B.  Dowdell,  $414.35  ; 
Valdosta  District,  under  Presiding  Elder  W.  H. 
Powell,  $392.85  ;  Albany  District  under  Presiding 
Elder  S.  M.  Clarke,  $299.75,  and  Brunswick  District, 
under  Presiding  Elder  Peyton  Stokes,  $291.50 — a 
total  of  $2,948.31  of  Dollar  Money  from  a  member- 
ship reported  as  20,000. 

By  petition  of  the  Conference,  it  was  decided  by 


186  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

the  Bishop  that  the  Conference  should  be  held  in 
December  instead  o£  January.  As  a  consequence, 
when  the  appointment  was  made  for  the  next  Annual 
Conference  to  be  held  at  Savannah,  it  was  set  for 
December  14  of  the  same  year  (18S7). 

It  was  upon  the  9th  of  November  preceding  this 
that  the  next  Conference  in  the  State  was  held — 
the  North  Georgia  Conference — at  Rome,  Ga.,  in 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

All  that  was  mortal  of  our  Presiding  Bishop  J.  A. 
Shorter  had  been  laid  to  rest  in  July,  and  the  work 
of   this    Conference     was  in  the    hands  of  Bishop 

A.  W.    Wayman. 

It  had  been  nearly  twenty  years  since  he  had 
presided  over  a  Conference  in  the  State — from  1868 
to  1887 — a  long  period,  but  the  welcome  given  him 
was  proportionately  warm  and  heartfelt. 

The  class  for  admission  consisted  of  E.  J.  Hol- 
land, Wm.  P.  Bradley,  H.  H.  Silas,  M.  W.  Pryor, 
W.  A.  Gillam,  Wm.  Flagg,  W.  H.  Mance,  L.  G. 
Trigg>  J-  R-  Pace>  H-  F-  Chunn,  Andrew  Finch, 
J.  J.  Wilson.  The  deacons  ordained  were  H.  Pitts, 
W.  G.  Smith,  E.  W.  Lee,  S.  P.  Cary,  Peter  Wil- 
liams, R.  H.  Haynes,  Jerry  McGruder,  H.  J.  John- 
son, P.  O'Connell,  S.  M.  Alexander,  J.  L.  Trigg; 
the  local  deacons,  Wm.  P.  Bradley  and  Jefferson 
Thomas,  of  the  Atlanta  District,  Robert  Caloway, 

B.  J.  Arnold,  Robert  Parks,  J.  B.  Dukes,  of  the 
Athens  District.  The  Elders'  class  ordained  con- 
sisted of  S.  B.  Sims,  Wm.  Stansel,  Wm.  J.  Russell, 
C  W.  Simons,  F.  Griffin,   R.  Fountain,  L.  Baxter, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  187 

C.  C.  Cargile,  W.  J.  Lawrence,  L.  E.  Hall,  Y.  D. 
Donnell,  Isaac  Young,  Benjamin  Shepard  and 
A.  D.  Blossomgan  were  also  elected  to  deacon's 
orders. 

The  election  of  seven  delegates  to  General  Con- 
ference, with  alternates,  took  place  on  the  third  and 
fourth  days,  resulting  in  the  following  list:  Revs. 
W.  J.  Gaines,  R.  Graham,  J.  G.  Yeiser,  C.  L.  Brad- 
well,  J.  A.  Cary,  D.  J.  McGhee,  D.  T.  Green;  alter- 
nates, Revs.  C.  P.  Jordan,  I.  S.  Hamilton,  J.  S. 
Flipper,  A.  W.  Watson,  C.  M.  Manning,  H.  D. 
Bush  and  J.  H.  Hillson. 

The  feature  of  the  memorial  services  was  that 
two  Bishops  were  to  be  commemorated  and  one 
pioneer  of  the  Conference.  As  we  devote  space 
elsewhere  to  one  of  the  Bishops  and  this  aged 
brother — Rev.  Andrew  Brown — because  of  their 
connection  with  the  work  in  Georgia,  we  omit 
further  mention  of  them  here,  save  to  say  that  the 
body  did  honor  to  both  in  all  ways  possible  in  the 
addresses  delivered  upon  the  occasion.  Bishop  R.  A. 
Cain,  is  the  one  of  whom  we  would  now  speak. 

Dr.  B.  T.  Tanner's  tribute  to  him,  as  found  re- 
corded in  the  minutes  of  this  session,  also  the  report 
of  the  Committee  upon  memoirs  for  the  Macon 
Conference,  which  met  November  30 — the  same 
month — contain  the  sentiments  of  the  Conferences 
of  the  State.  Dr.  Tanner  spoke  of  him  as  a  man 
of  singular  greatness,  which  he  assuredly  was;  a 
man  who  had  brought  himself  from  a  Virginia  hovel 
to  the  halls  of  Congress  and  to  the  Episcopacy.    He 


188  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

was  a  religious  man — always  ready  to  preach;  a 
man  of  most  brilliant  oratory  and  a  lover  of  his 
race.  The  statement  by  the  Committee  that,  like 
Bishop  Shorter,  he  was  strongly  imbued  with  the 
missionary  spirit  was  true,  for  his  early  work  in 
South  Carolina  is  proof  of  this.  He  was  a  zealous 
man  even  to  over-enthusiasm.  His  dreams  of  the 
coming  greatness  of  the  race  caused  him  to  be  per- 
haps too  visionary,  and,  basing  too  much  upon  what 
he  conceived  to  be  our  present  greatness,  to  plan 
more  largely  for  the  immediate  future  than  we 
could  hope  to  accomplish,  but  it  was  to  build  up  the 
race.  He  was  to  have  organized  the  church  in 
Africa,  but  God  knew  best. 

As  Bishop  Tanner  said,  "  No  man  ever  brought 
to  the  church  as  many  members  as  R.  H.  Cain,  for 
all  of  South  Carolina  was  his  contribution." 

The  Presiding  Elder  reports  were  satisfactory  in 
a  high  degree.  The  Griffin  district,  under  Rev. 
D.  J.  McGhee,  with  its  sixteen  appointments  was 
moving  on  successfully.  Marietta,  under  Rev.  C. 
L.  Bradwell,  made  its  third  annual  report  of  its  five 
stations  and  nineteen  appointments,  which  showed 
over  373  members  added,  $802.20  of  Dollar  Money 
raised  and  over  $9,533.01  as  a  total  of  all  the 
money  collected  for  various  purposes.  Athens 
District  gave  a  very  pleasing  report  of  its  twenty- 
one  points,  stating  that  all  were  in  a  prosperous 
condition.  On  the  writer's  own  district  all  had 
done  well — some  of  the  younger  ministers  surpris- 
ingly so,  financially  and  spiritually.     Allen  Temple 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  189 

had  received  an  addition  of  300  souls  in  a  marvelous 
revival  under  Rev.  A.  S.Jackson.  There  was  some 
new  mission  work  in  Rutledge  and  McDonough  and 
Locust  Grove,  which  seemed  to  promise  well.  This 
was  the  only  new  work  of  the  year  in  onr  Confer- 
ence borders.  Our  aim  in  the  Atlanta  District  was 
to  enlarge  our  work  and  gather  in  the  people,  be- 
lieving, like  Joshua  of  old,  that  there  was  yet  much 
land  to  possess. 

The  Macon,  Ga.  Conference  held  its  next  session 
in  Talbotton  A.  M.  E.  Chapel,  Nov.  30.  Bishop  J. 
M.  Brown,  D.  D.,  was  to  preside  but  was  absent  at 
the  opening,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  last  session, 
Wm.  C.  Banton,  called  the  ministers  to  order,  and 
a  temporary  chairman  was  elected  in  the  person  of 
Presiding  Elder  R.  A.  Hall.  The  opening  exer- 
cises were  conducted  and  the  Conference  proceeded 
to  business.  Upon  vote,  the  usual  committees  were 
appointed  by  the  chairman,  and  that  evening  the 
annual  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Wesley  G. 
Gaines  from  the  text  found  in  Psalm  xlvi  :  11  -'The 
Loid  of  hosts  is  with  us  ;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our 
refuge,"  in  which  he  spoke  most  feelingly  of  the 
trials  of  the  ministerial  office,  the  spread  of  religious 
truth  and  the  extention  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

Upon  the  second  day,  Bishop  Disney,  of  what  was, 
in  1887,  the  Tenth  Episcopal  District,  including  On- 
tario, Nova  Scotia  and  West  Indies,  reached  the 
Conference.  He  had  come  to  preside  over  its  de- 
liberations in  the  absence  of  Bishop  Brown,  who 
was  detained   at  home   by  severe  illness.     Bishop 


190  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

Disney  was  warmly  welcomed,  and  spoke  graciously 
concerning  his  coming  to  the  Conference.  Bishop 
Turner,  of  the  Fifth  Episcopal  District,  was  also  pre- 
sent, and  upon  introduction  to  the  body,  spoke  of 
this  work  with  the  old  fervor,  as  being  the  result  of 
"constant  endeavor  to  spread  abroad  the  church  of 
God  on  the  earth." 

The  reports  of  the  Committees  were  unusually  in- 
teresting, stirring  speeches  being  made  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  Temperance,  which  question,  as  mentioned 
before,  had  been  agitating  the  State,  and  especially 
the  city  of  Atlanta.  A  triumph  had  been  scored  for 
Prohibition,  and  it  was  a  season  of  rejoicing  that  so 
hurtful  an  influence  had  been  suppressed  in  this  bat- 
tle of  wrong  versus  right.  As  it  was  most  truthfully 
said  in  Conference:  "Intemperance  is  sending  our 
young  men  and  women  to  the  chain-gangs  of  earth 
and  hell,  where  they  are  tormented  day  and  night." 
The  writer  was  especially  moved  to  urge  the  sav- 
ing of  men,  women  and  children  from  hunger,  nak- 
edness, sickness  and  death.  Intemperance  has 
wrought  such  fearful  wretchedness  that  every  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  should  lift  his  voice  against  it,  and 
do  his  part  toward  crushing  it — destroying  it — blot- 
ting it  out  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  church  was  again  warned  by  this  Conference 
as  to  the  dangers  to  the  church  in  too  great  readi- 
ness to  receive  into  "full  membership"  on  profession 
of  faith,  without  strict  adherence  to  the  benefits  of 
Methodist  usage,  which  provides  for  a  probation  of 
six  months.     It  was  set  forth  clearly  in  the  follow- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  191 

ing  statement  in  the  report  of  Committee  on  State  of 
the  Church:  "We  believe  that  a  too  ready  admis- 
sion to  full  membership  cannot  be  productive  of 
obedient  followers  of  church  rule;  for  those  who,  on 
entering  the  organization,  observe  the  rules  of  dis- 
cipline set  aside  by  ministers  in  charge,  may,  in  time, 
come  to  disregard  the  more  weighty  matters  of  the 
law,  and  the  ministers  who,  on  the  ground  of  expe- 
diency, with  a  view  to  out-distancing  other  religious 
bodies,  disregard  the  correct  rules  of  Methodist  pro- 
bation." 

The  election  of  delegates  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence of  18S8  took  place  upon  the  third  day,  result- 
ing in  the  following  list:  Revs.  Elias  P.  Holmes, 
Wright  Newman,  Lewis  H.  Smith,  Lawrence 
Thomas,  Richard  A.  Hall,  Andrew  W.  Lowe,  Wes- 
ley C.  Gaines,  with  Revs.  T.  N.  M.  Smith,  Henry 
Lester,  John  A.  Davis,  Wm.  H.  Smith,  Wm. 
C.  Burton,  Allen  Cooper,  George  Linder  as  alter- 
nates. The  credentials  of  Thomas  S.  Price  and  J.  W. 
Brooks,  with  Van  J.  Jones  and  J.  H.  Kimbrough, 
as  alternates — all  elected  as  lay  delegates  to  the 
General  Conference  by  the  Electoral  College  at 
Macon,  July  6,  1887 — were  presented,  and  their 
names  were  added  to  the  list  of  delegates  to  assem- 
ble in  the  city  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,    May    1st,  1S8S. 

The  annual  meetings  of  the  Literary  and  Histori- 
cal Society,  also  of  the  Missionary  Society,  were 
productive  of  much  benefit  in  every  way,  as  inter- 
est was  re-awakened  and  pockets,  as  well  as  hearts,. 


192  AFRICAN   METHODISM    IN   THE    SOUTH; 

were  touched  to  respond  to  the  appeal  for  the  good 
of  the  cause  represented. 

The  following  brethren  were  admitted  on  trial: 
J.  O.  Iverson,  J.  C.  Hill,  Wm.  Jones,  James  Y. 
Rogers,  F.  C   CraytonJ.  H.  Hall,  S.  E.   Perry,   J. 

B.  Upshaw,  T.  J.  Lewis,  R.  N.  Fairfax,  J.  Sea- 
brooks,  J.  R.  Stroud,  H.  D.  Gorman,  G.  W.  Linder, 

C.  G.  Linder,  S.  M.  Zeigler,  D.  S.  Wells,  C.  T. 
Thornton,  Thomas  Mitchell,  Elias  H.  Miller,  Henry 
L.  Davis. 

The  ordination  sermon  was  preached  on  the  4th 
of  December  by  Bishop  Disney  from  Matthewix  ; 
16.  "Behold,  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the 
midst  of  wolves;  be  ye  therefore  wise  as  serpents 
and  harmless  as  doves."  At  the  close  of  the  ser- 
mon, the  following  were  ordained  deacons:  Jerry 
Moseley,  Claiborne  H.  Warren  and  Charles  J.  Jones, 
with  Revs.  James  R.  Strong  and  G.  F.  Battle  re-ob- 
ligated to  the  same  office;  the  elders  were  as  fol- 
lows: Revs.  Robert  M.  S.  Taylor,  San  Francisco 
Andrews,  Robert  Jay  Bailey,  Richard  L.  Butts, 
Levi  L.  Reynolds,  Homer  Shaw,  Daniel  Smith, 
Simon  P.  Thomas,  and  Revs.  Thomas  Mitchell, 
Charles  Thornton  and  Daniel  S.  Wells,  re-obligated. 

Revs.  Felix  Foster  and  Augustus  Colbert  had 
died  during  the  year.  Those  who  took  transfers 
from  the  Macon  Conference  this  year  were  Edward 

D.  Gorman,  Brister  Griggs,  John  Seabrooks,  Thos. 
Mitchell,  Wm.  T.  Norris,  Samuel  George  and  Wm. 
Harkness — all  to  the  Georgia  Conference,  while 
Macon  Conference  received  from  the  North  Georgia, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  193 

Revs.  Milton  W.  Moore,  Henry  C.  Boyd,  Wm. 
Harkness  and  George  Washington. 

The  year  1887  had  been  a  memorable  one.  It 
was  the  Centennial  year  of  the  existence  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church,  and  in  November  there  was  a 
general  celebration  of  this  event  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  connection,  centering  principally  in 
Bethel  Church — the  mother  church  of  all — in  Phila- 
delphia. 

To  these  meetings  the  church  in  future  will  owe 
much,  for  here  for  the  first  time  we  find  something 
like  a  systematized  effort  to  formulate  the  history  of 
the  church  in  a  few  sections  in  the  addresses  deliv- 
ered. The  Centennial  Budget — -the  work  of  our  Fi- 
nancial Secretary,  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett — now  Bishop  B. 
W.  Arnett,  D.  D., — was  compiled  in  1888  and  is 
a  masterpiece  of  work  and  a  mine  of  information 
to  which  all  future thistorians  must  resort.  Here  we 
find  what  the  church  has  done  in  one  hundred  years 
from  its  conception  in  seventy-one  years  from  its 
organization.  Twenty  years  before  this  American 
Methodism  held  its  Centennial.  To  be  sure,  we, 
too,  had  here  a  part  as  Methodists,  but  it  was  not  to 
the  Negro  race  what  this  year  of  1S87  was  with  its 
outlook  on  the  past  and  future.  These  Centennial 
addresses  were  inspiring,  they  were  full  of  sugges- 
tions which  are  already  being  put  into  practice. 

In  this  Centennial  year  we  rind  one  Bishop  over  a 
church  of  16  preachers  increased  to  eleven  Bishops 
over  2,270  itinerant  preachers.     Supporting    these 


194  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

we  find  5,022  local  preachers  and  2,600  exhorters. 
With  17,009  stewards  and  14,190  stewardesses, 
whose  labors  are  helped  by  17,778  class  leaders,  we 
have  under  the  care  of  all  these  47,817  probationers 
and  344,953  members. 

There  is  nothing  in  such  a  showing  for  one  hun- 
dred years — -years  of  toil  and  struggle  under  most 
harrowing  afflictions — and  as  the  church  turned  its 
face  to  the  General  Conference  of  1888,  it  was  with 
a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude  to  God  that  He  had 
thus  strengthened  the  weak  and  paved  the  way  for 
a  future,  for  which  every  member  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  will  bless  Him  and  Richard  Allen. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  195 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

WORK  ASSIGNED  IN  1 888. 

There  was  still  another  Conference  to  be  held 
before  the  close  of  1887.  The  Georgia  Annual 
Conference,  at  its  meeting  in  January,  changed  the 
time  of  its  session  to  December,  thus  two  sessions 
of  this  Conference  met  in  one  year,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Macon  Conference  in  1883.  The  Georgia  Con- 
ference convened  in  St.  James  Tabernacle,  Savan- 
nah, Ga.,  December  14th,  and  continued  to  the  20th 
inclusive. 

It  had  been  twenty-one  years  since  the  church  in  the 
South  first  held  a  session  of  Conference  in  the  State 
of  Georgia.  Savannah  had  twice  before  entertained 
the  Georgia  Conference  since  the  separation  of  the 
State  work  in  1873.  At  this  date  there  were  but 
five  men  left  who  had  attended  its  first  meeting — 
Rev.  Henry  Strickland,  Rev.  J.  A.  Wood,  Rev.  S. 
B.Jones,  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Crayton  and  the  writer. 

St.  James  Tabernacle  in  Savannah  was  then  on 
leased  land,  but  since  then  Rev.  R.  B.  Bailey  has 
bought  a  lot  and  is  now  (1890)  erecting  a  fine  build- 
ing upon  it — a  fitting  edifice  for  the  city  in  which 
Georgia  African  Methodism  was  first  organized 
aid  the  city  which  holds  the  Wesley    Monumental 


196  AFRICAN   METHODISM    IN    THE   SOUTH  ; 

Church  as  well,  in  which  we,  too,  have  a  share  as  a 
church.* 

Bishop  Brown  not  having  arrived,  Elder  S.  H. 
Robertson  called  the  Conference  to  order,  and  a 
Chairman  was  elected  in  the  person  of  Rev.  J.  A. 
Woods,  pending  the  arrival  of  the  Bishop,  who  had 
informed  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett  that  he  would  be  pres- 
ent despite  illness  during  the  session.  Bishop  Dis- 
ney was  also  expected  the  following  morning.  The 
work  went  briskly  on.  The  Annual  Sermon  fell,, 
by  appointment,  to  Rev.  C.  McDowell,  who  de- 
livered it  the  first  evening  from  Romans  i:i6.  Dr. 
W.  B.  Derrick  was  one  of  the  welcome  guests  of 
the  Conference,  he  having  accompanid  Bishop 
Brown,  in  order  to  care  for  him  in  his  afflicted 
state. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were  H.  C. 
Hawk,  E.  J.  Knight,  S.  S.  Swinson,  Jerry  Griffin,. 
E.  L.  Martin.  The  deacons  elected  and  ordained 
were  Revs.  J.  A.  Hadley,  Perry  Davis,  L.  B. 
Shaw,  Reuben  Richard,  G.  W.  Butler,  G.  H. 
Greene,  Enoch  Roberts,  J.  W.  Hagans,  C.  H. 
Williams,  Peter  Jones,  B.  J.  Shackleford,  with 
Brothers  A.  Underwood,  Wm  Daniel,  Anthony 
Jackson,  Moses  Ross,  Jacob  Seabrooks,  Cyrus 
Griffin  and  H.  C.  Brown  as  local  deacons.     Revs. 


*The  General  Conference  of  187C  voted  to  give  $1,000  to  this  Monumental 
Church  to  Wesley.  The  Committee  appointed  to  raise  the  money  failed. 
But  the  Bishop's  Council  and  Financial  Board  said  it  must  be  paid,  and  it 
was  paid  by  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett.  The  agent*. 
J.  O.  A.  Clark,  in  acknowledging  the  sum  said:  "Your  church  is  the- 
only  one  which,  voting  us  a  like  sum,  has  paid  the  full  amount  pledged.'-' 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  197 

Russel  Young,  H.  M.  Lofton,  J.  B.  Epton,  C.  C. 
Warren,  G.  W.  Kimbrough,  E.  J.  Bush,  Willis 
Lane,  Marshall  Stephen,  j.  W.  Williams,  P.  S. 
Smith,  W.  H.  Hammonds,  Tobie  Mclver,  H.  L. 
Weston,  Frank  C.  Mitchell  ana  R.  B.  Greene  were 
the  elders;  the  last  named  being  reobligated. 

Samuel  Steward  and  Joseph  Wooden,  local  dea- 
cons, died  this  year. 

The  Conference  Missionary  Convention  was  set 
to  meet  at  Brunswick,  August  15th,  and  the  dele- 
gates elected  to  General  Conference  were  Revs.  J. 
B.  Lofton,  S.  H.  Robertson,  J.  A.  Woods,  W.  O.  P. 
Sherman,  W.  H.  Powell,  S.  D.  Roseborough,  S.  C. 
Powell,  J.  H.  Adams  and  R.  R.  Downs.  The 
-alternates  were  Revs.  G.  H.  M.  Brookens,  D.  H. 
Porter,  M.  J.  Ingraham,  S.  M.  Clarke,  Henry 
Strickland,  R.  W.  Fickland,  M.  R.  Wilson,  R.  V. 
Smith.  J.  F.  Gilling  and  G.  W.  Shaw,  of  Savan- 
nah, were  the  lay  delegates  elected  in  August  and 
their  names  were  added.  Rev.  Samuel  D.  George 
was  transferred  from  the  Macon  Conference  to  this, 
as  was  also  Rev.  Wm.  Harkness. 

The  Hawkinsville  District  raised  $307.25  of  Dol- 
lar Money;  Brunswick,  $260.75;  Albany,  $328.05; 
Valdosta,  $245.57;  Cuthbert,  $426.15  and  Thom- 
asville,  $524.20. 

Conference  closed  the  twentieth  of  the  month— 
the  last  Conlerence  to  meet  in  the  State  until  after 
the  General  Conference  of  the  following  May. 

This  body  met  in  Indianapolis  May  — ,  1888,  and 
elected  four  Bishops  to  the  work  of  the  Episcopal 


198  AMERICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE   SOUTH  ; 

Bench  in  the  following  order  of  selection:  Dr.  W~ 
J.  Gaines,  Dr.  B.  W.  Arnett,  Dr.  B.  T.  Tanner,  and 
Dr.  Abram  Grant.  The  writer  and  Bishop  Grant 
were  from  the  South — a  recognition  of  the  extent 
and  strength  of  Southern  work.  The  General 
Conference  laid  off  the  work  of  the  church  at  this 
session  into  eleven  Episcopal  Districts.  This  was 
done  by  the  Episcopal  Committee,  which  commit- 
tee also  makes  the  appointments  of  the  Bishops,  an 
arrangment  no  more  than  fair,  as  it  would  seem 
that  the  brethren  should  have  the  opportunity  of 
making  appointments  for  the  Bishops  once  in  four 
years,  as  the  latter  make  theirs  every  year. 

The  appointments  of  the  Episcopal  Bench  were 
as  follows  for  the  quadrennium  of  1888- 1892,  to- 
gether with  all  Conferences  as  they  now  stand 
(1890): 

First  District— -Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  New  Jer- 
sey, Philadelphia,  New  York,  New  England. 

Second  District — Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell,  North 
Carolina,  Virginia,   Baltimore. 

Third  District — Bishop  D.  A.  Payne,  Ohio, 
North  Ohio,  Pittsburgh. 

Fourth  District — Bishop  J.  M.  Brown,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Indiana,  Michigan. 

Fifth  District— Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  Rocky 
Mountain,  Missouri,  North  Missouri,  Kansas,  In- 
dian Territory. 

Sixth  District — Bishop  W.  J.  Gaines,  North, 
Georgia,  Macon,  Ga.,  Georgia,  North  Alabama,, 
Alabama. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  199" 

Seventh  District — Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett,  Colum- 
bia, South  Carolina,    Florida,  East  Florida. 

Eighth  District — Bishop  R.  R.  Disney,  Arkansas, 
West  Arkansas,  South  Arkansas,  Mississippi,  North 
Mississippi. 

Ninth  District — Bishop  A.  Grant,  California,. 
Texas,  Northeast  Texas,  Texas,  Central, West  Texas, 
North  Louisiana,  Louisiana. 

Tenth  District — Bishop  A.  W.  W7ayman,  Ken- 
tucky, West  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  West  Tennes- 
see. 

f -  Eleventh  District— Bishop    B.    T.    Tanner.    On- 
tario, Nova  Scotia,  Bermuda,  Hayti. 

As  we  see,  the  newly  elected  Bishops  from  the 
South  were  assigned  to  Southern  work,  and  Geor- 
gia and  Alabama  were  assigned,  as  the  Sixth  Dis- 
trict, to  the  writer.  So  Georgia  again  had  a  newly 
made  Bishop  to  preside  over  its  work.* 

The  first  Conference  over  which  I  was  called  to 
preside  in  my  new  office  was  the  North  Georgia 
Conference,  held  at  Dalton,  Nov.  7th,  1888.  In  or- 
der to  lay  before  my  readers  the  state  of  mind  with 
which  I  approached  my  new  duties  I  can  do  no  bet- 
ter than  humbly  present  the  heart-felt  words  which 
rose  to  my  lips  when  I  addressed  this  Conference 
for  the  first  time  in  my  new  relations  to  it.  It  was 
a  serious  undertaking — to  go  back  to  the  work  as 
Bishop   where    I    had   labored   from    the     itinerant 


*At  this  point  the  writer  feels  it  best  to  drop  the  impersonal  form  in 
reference  to  himself  for  the  remainder  of  the  work  of  the  Conference,  as 
being  both  awkward  and  inconvenient  to  use,  where  of  necessity  he  must 
so  frequently  refer  to  hi  a.  self. 


200  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

ranks,  and  the  fear  was  that  my  friends  might  ex- 
pect too  much  of  me,  and  that  they  and  life-long 
acquaintances  might  cause  me  embarrassment  by 
asking  much  of  me  as  friends  and  acquaintances. 
This  will  explain  my  words,  as  well  as  the  course  I 
then  determined  to  pursue,  as  I  spoke  to  the  brethren 
as  follows: 

Brethren: — I  appear  before  you  as  the  Presid- 
ing Bishop  of  this  Conference.  I  do  not  come  as  a 
stranger  to  you,  nor  to  the  people  of  Georgia.  I 
have  been  a  member  of  the  African  Methodist 
Church  since  its  organization  in  this  State.  You  can 
imagine  my  feelings  when  you  consider  the  gravity 
of  the  responsibility  resting  upon  me  in  the  respon- 
sible office  to  which  I  have  recently  been  elevated 
by  your  suffrage  and  that  of  the  membership  of  the 
General  Conference  of  the  entire  Church.  You  can 
imagine  how  anxious  I  feel  about  the  success  of  my 
work  in  the  Sixth  Episcopal  District.  When  I  think 
of  my  election  to  this  office  by  the  members  of  the 
General  Conference,  and  especially  those  of  the 
Georgia  delegation,  and  then  of  my  return  to  this 
State  to  preside  over  the  Conference  in  which  I  have 
spent  a  great  deal  of  service,  I  can  assure  you  that 
I  am  deeply  anxious  to  discharge  with  success  the 
arduous  duties.  The  responsibilities  are  great,  and 
I  need  the  full  co-operation  of  every  minister,  every 
member  and  every  friend  of  the  North  Georgia  Con- 
ference. No  man  liveth  to  himself  and  no  man 
dieth  to  himself;  and  whether  we  be  living  or  dead, 
we  are  the  Lord's.     We  need  each  other's  help  and 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  201 

sympathy  in  bearing  the  burdens  of  life.  None  of  us 
-ever  advance  so  high  in  position  in  this  life,  that  we 
do  not  need  the  sympathy  of  those  who  are  around 
us.  It  is  the  common  people  of  this  country  who 
hold  up  this  great  government  under  which  we  live. 
The  men  who  build  the  railroads,  mix  the  mortar 
burn  the  bricks  and  perform  other  necessary  toil,  are 
the  ones  who  constitute  the  life  blood  of  our  material 
organization.  The  engineer  whoruns  the  train  is  en- 
trusted with  the  responsibility  of  human  lives,  but 
he  could  not  succeed  without  the  co-operation  of 
the  general  manager,  and  neither  could  the  general 
manager  succeed  without  the  men  who  built  the 
railroads  and  have  the  ability  to  run  them. 

Our  interests  are  so  closely  connected  together  that 
it  would  be  unwise  to  say,  that  I  do  not  need  the  as- 
sistance of  others.  I  am  aware  that  a  man  must 
make  his  own  mark  in  life.  We  can  help  him  oc- 
casionally; but  the  great  responsibility  for  success 
rests  upon  the  man's  own  shoulders.  Therefore,  I 
propose  to  allow  every  man  a  chance  in  the  struggle 
for  polemic  success. 

There  are  three  qualities,  however,  that  every 
minister  needs  in  order  to  succeed  in  this  life. 
There  may  be  more,  but  I  speak  of  three.  The  first 
is  a  Christian  character;  the  seccnd  is  the  will  to 
work  for  God,  humanity  and  the  Church;  and  the 
third  is  education  in  order  to  put  into  action  the 
works,  especially  by  our  Christian  character. 
Brethren,  I  have  the  same'  appointments  under  my 
supervision    that   have    been    given    to  you  by  the 


202  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ) 

Bishops  that  have  preceded  me.  I  have  no  better 
places  but  the  same,  unless  they  have  grown  better 
under  your  labors  during  the  past  year.  Every 
man  cannot  get  such  an  appointmert  as  he  would 
like  to  have,  for  there  are  not  enough  such  places 
to  distribute  among  our  brethren.  I  wish  most 
earnestly  that  I  had  one  hundred  choice  appoint- 
ments that  I  might  be  able  to  satisfy  the  brethren 
who  desire  them.  Pardon  me,  members  of  the  Con- 
ference, for  requesting  you  not  to  ask  me  for  special 
appointments.  I  confess  that  it  is  very  embarrass- 
ing to  be  thus  approached.  While  I  am  not  a  stranger 
to  you,  I  feel  just  as  every  Bishop  would  under 
the  circumstances.  I  am  perfectly  willing  that  you 
should  tell  me  your  difficulties  and  trials;  and  las- 
sure  you  that  the  sympathy  of  my  heart  will  go  out 
toward  you,  and  in  the  name  of  God  and  the  Church 
I  promise  to  do  the  best  I  can  for  every  man  in  the 
Conference. 

I  trust  that  every  minister's  report  will  be  better 
this  year  than  it  was  last  year,  both  spiritually  and 
and  temporally.  The  men  who  work  the  hardest, 
and  accomplish  the  best  results  will  be  sure  to  come 
to  the  front.  I  can  say  without  egotism  that  I  have 
worked  hard  for  the  church,  therefore  I  am  in  sym- 
pathy with  those  who  work  in  their  respective  fields 
of  labor.  The  ministers  throughout  the  Sixth  Dis- 
trict have  promised  to  assist  me  in  my  administra- 
tion as  best  they  could,  for  more  reasons  than  I  will 
state  now.  Those  who  make  themselves  useful 
shall  be  put  into  positions  where  they  can  be  more- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF   FREEDOM.  203 

useful.  Whatever  the  appointment  is,  try  to  improve 
it.  My  prayer  to  God  is,  that  the  churches  commit- 
ted to  your  care  may  prosper  and  grow  under  your 
pastorship.  This  cannot  be  general  unless  we 
work  together.  I  pray  you,  brethren,  to  help  me 
make  this  work  a  success.  I  implore  you  to  let  us 
have  order,  especially  while  business  is  being  trans- 
acted. I  ask  each  minister  to  do  the  best  he  can  to 
assist  me  in  this  direction,  and  I  will  have  no  trouble 
in  preserving  order  during  the  sessions  of  the  Con- 
ference. I  cannot  do  it  unless  you  respect  the 
chair.  I  shall  respect  the  rights  of  every  one  on  the 
floor;  and  it  is  expected  that  when  the  chair  decides 
a  brother  is  out  of  order,  that  he  will  take  his  seat- 
Let  our  department  be  such  as  becometh  ministers 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  when  we  shall 
have  closed  this  session,  the  people  of  this  commun- 
ity will  say,  the  conduct  of  the  ministers  has  been 
grand  and  creditable  to  the  church.  You  will  ex- 
cuse me,  dear  brethren,  for  urging  you  to  be  respect- 
ful to  each  other.  There  is  nothing  which  brings 
disorder  into  the  sessions  of  a  Conference  or  in 
any  general  assembly,  whether  it  is  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  or  in  the  General  Conference,  than 
a  want  of  respect  for  each  other. 

Ministers  ought  to  be  more  respectful  to  one  an- 
other than  other  persons,  for  we  occupy  higher  po- 
sitions than  any  other  class  on  earth.  You  all 
know  how  I  reverenced  the  lamented  Bishop  James 
A.  Shorter  as  a  friend  and  as  a  father,  but  he  would 
rebuke  me  just  as  quickly  as  he  would  any  man  in 


"204  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ) 

the  Conference  if  he  thought  I  did  not  do  my  duty. 
I  always  felt  he  was  honest,  and,  therefore,  I  could 
take  his  rebuke  because  he  did  it  conscientiously. 
And  yet,  with  all  respect  for  the  memory  of  Bishop 
Shorter,  I  am  ambitious  to  down  him  in  gathering 
in  souls  for  Christ,  and  in  advancing  the  standard  of 
Christianity. 

I  want  to  surpass  Bishop  Shorter's  record  in  this 
respect,  and  I  want  the  brethren  to  aid  me  in  doing 
so.  When  Bishop  Shorter  succeed  Bishop  Dicker- 
son  in  this  work,  he  praised  his  predecessor's  efforts, 
bmt  he  said  he  intended  to  surpass  what  he  had  done. 
I  never  went  to  Conference  as  a  pastor  but  that  I 
meant  to  beat  my  previous  record.  I  made  that  the 
rule  of  my  ministerial  life;  and  I  feel  equally  anx- 
ious now,  in  succeeding  other  Bishops  who  have  been 
successful  in  their  great  office,  to  surpass  their  credit- 
able records.  You  know  how  a  minister  feels  in 
following  one  that  has  been  successful.  It  is  my 
purpose  to  distance  my  predecessor  in  all  respects. 
I  have  passed  through  every  grade  of  ministerial 
experience  in  our  church,  and  I  thank  God  that  there 
are  witnesses  present  to  the  fact.  I  feel  anxious  over 
your  results,  because  I  am  interested  in  them.  As 
j-our  reports  are  my  reports,  I  naturally  feel  very 
solicitous  for  your  success.  A  failure  would  kill  me. 
It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the  Lord  may  bless  you 
in  all  your  ministerial  labors.  I  stand  here  with  my 
hand  raised  before  God,  and  I  pledge  myself  in  the 
presence  of  the  brethren  that  I  am  going  to  do  the 
best  I  can  for  the  church  that  has  honored  me  with 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  205 

its  great  commission.  I  mean  to  deal  tenderly  but 
firmly  with  you.  I  shall  be  plain  and  tender  in  my  in- 
tercourse with  you.  A  man  can  say  anything  to  me  in 
a  courteous  manner  but  when  he  speaks  otherwise  he 
is  likely  to  defeat  the  very  purpose  he  aims  to  serve. 
I  never  mean  to  be  vindictive,  but  I  prefer  to  meet 
such  a  spirit  with  good- will  toward  all  men.  I  once 
knew  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  Georgia  Confer- 
ence who  had  charge  of  a  certain  church  and  de- 
sired to  bring  about  certain  results  -  He  was  posi- 
tive, but  somewhat  harsh  in  his  manner  of  dealing 
with  his  congregation.  He  desired  to  bring  his  mem- 
bership up  to  certain  duties,  and  informed  them  in  a 
severe  tone  that  they  must  comply  or  suffer  the 
consequences.  He  partially  succeeded,  but  in  very 
bad  grace.  I  afterwards  had  charge  of  the  same 
church,  and  I  appealed  tenderly  to  the  people's  re- 
spect for  the  law,  and  their  obligation  to  comply 
with  it.  I  meant  to  do  just  what  he  aimed  to  do;  I 
succeeded  by  approaching  the  people  pleasantly  to 
have  them  co-operate  with  me.  I  attained  the  de- 
sired results,  but  in  a  different  way.  The  office  does 
not  make  the  man.  Brethren,  I  tell  you  in  the  fear 
of  God  that  I  want  you  to  aid  me.  I  appreciate  and 
feel  for  the  ministers  in  their  efforts  to  advance  the 
banners  of  our  church.  Your  value  is  determined  by 
your  worth  and  influence. 

What  makes  me  feel  proud  of  my  position  is  that 
I  was  elected  as  a  Bishop  ought  to  be  elected,  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  I  feel  honored  in  being 
blessed  with  such  an  experience.     It  was  indeed  a 


206  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

gratifying  spectacle  to  see  the  brethren  from  the 
North,  the  South,  the  East  and  the  West,  standing 
side  by  side  with  the  Georgia  delegation  in  their  ef- 
forts to  give  the  South  a  representation  on  the  Bench 
of  Bishops.  I  appeal  to  you  to  do  your  duty  so  as 
to  prove  yourselves  worthy  of  the  consideration  that 
the  General  Conference  extended  to  us.  I  desire  you 
to  be  men  in  the  fullest  sense — respectful  and  digni- 
fied, with  no  disposition  to  servility.  I  would  be 
sorry  to  see  in  any  of  you  anything  like  a  disposi- 
tion to  fawn.  I  have  a  dog  at  home  that  appears 
glad  to  see  me  when  I  return  home  after  an  absence 
by  various  manifestations;  but  when  he  lies  at  my 
feet  I  am  inclined  to  kick  him  away;  and  if  any  of 
the  brethren  should  approach  me  in  any  other  bear- 
ing than  becomes  a  Christian  minister  and  a  gentle- 
man, I  would  not  be  pleased  with  it. 

Whatever  faults  I  may  have,  I  promise  you  that 
I  will  not  use  the  Episcopal  office  that  God  and  the 
church  have  given  me,  to  stab  a  brother,  whatever 
he  may  do  to  me.  I  do  not  think  any  man  who 
knows  me  considers  me  a  coward.  I  have  always 
had  the  courage  to  say  openly  and  plainly  whatever 
I  deem  right  and  expedient.  While  I  have  honestly 
opposed  the  positions  of  others,  I  have  never  helped 
to  expel  but  one  man  from  the  church  in  my  life. 
Elder  Robertson  knows  to  whom  I  refer.  I  may 
have  marked  men,  but  I  never  did  it  to  injure  a 
brother;  and  if  I  did  an  injustice  to  any  one,  it  was 
with  the  intention  of  doing  good.  I  frequently  asked 
God,  upon  my  knees,    to    decide  the    contest   for 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  207 

the  Bishopric,  as  far  as  I  was  concerned,  in  the  inter- 
est of  the  church;  and  I  promised  God  that  if  I  were 
successful,  I  would  aim  to  advance  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

This  morning  my  hand  is  extended  and  my  heart 
is  open  in  Christian  fellowship  to  every  being  here 
and  elsewhere;  and  if  I  make  any  mistakes  in  my 
office,  they  will  be  mistakes  of  the  "head  and  not  the 
heart." 

I  had  determined  to  treat  every  man  according  to 
his  character,  ability  and  intelligence,  and  in  this  line 
I  have  striven  ever  since.  I  have  also  worked  upon 
the  principle  in  our  Conferences  that  the  men  who 
come  in  must  work  to  come  up,  feeling  that  thus 
our  strength  has  been  used  to  the  best  advantage. 
To-day  (1890)  I  can  truly  say  that  the  brethren 
have  helped  me  by  preventing  any  such  embarrass- 
ment as  I  at  first  feared,  and  as  would  have  resulted, 
had  any  other  course  been  followed  than  the  one  I 
desired  them  to  follow. 

In  this  North  Georgia  Conference,  Rev.  D.T.  Green 
preached  the  annual  sermon — a  grand  discourse 
upon  "The    predomination  of  light  over  darkness." 

The  visitors  to  Conference  were  from  various  sec- 
tions, and  the  progress  of  our  people  in  twenty 
years  was  strikingly  noted.  At  Sabbath  services 
the  audience  heard  from  Rev.  L.  J.  Coppin,  D.  D., 
Editor  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  Review,  also  Rev. 
James  H.  Handy,  D.  D.,  Financial  Secretary,  and 
Rev.  A.  W.  Upshaw,  in  sermons  doctrinal,  eloquent, 
logical  and  oratorical. 


208  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE   SOUTH  J 

The  following  were  ordained  deacons:  Wm.. 
Flagg,  Jr.,  Wade  H.  Mance,  James  A.  Lindsey, 
John  Cooper,  Abraham  L.  Gaines,  L.  G.  Brookens,. 
also  Geo.  N.  Henry  and  C.  M.  Pinkleton,  local.  The 
elders  ordained  were  Revs.  Edward  W.  Lee,  Simon 
M.  Alexander,  Andrew  J.  Wilkerson,  Madersod  M. 
Pryor,  James  Watts,  Z.  Pierce,  Floyd  R.  Richard- 
son and  Josepn  R.  Biggins.  The  preachers  admitted 
on  trial  were  J.  W.  Fincher,  T.  PorterJ.J.  Williams, 
A.  J.  Carey,  E.  P.  Russell,  Nathan  Price,  Burrel  Bat- 
tle, M.  E.  Cawthorne,  P.  S.  Simmons,  Wm.  Bailey,  S. 
R.  Lowe,  B.  F.  Franklin,  A.  L.  Gaines,  L.  C 
Rolling,  J.  A.  Lindsey,  J.  W.  Walker,  R.  M.  King,. 
Samuel  Givens,J.  B.  McAlpine,  Grant  Hawkins  and 
R.  W.  Gibson. 

The  Atlanta  District  report  from  S.  H.  Robert- 
son, P.  E.,  for  five  months  (he  having  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  Georgia  Conference)  showed  good 
work  at  every  one  of  its  twenty-three  points — new 
churches,  improvements  and  added  members.  Pre- 
siding Elder  D.  J.  McGhee  reported  similarly  from 
the  twenty  points  on  Griffin  District,  as  did  Presiding 
Elder  R.  Graham  from  the  twenty-five  on  Athens 
District.  C.  L.  Bradwell,  P.  E.,  of  Marietta,  gave 
a  most  encouraging  detailed  account  of  these  twenty- 
one  points  and  a  probable  extension  of  work  to 
Tallapoosa. 

The  transfers  from  the  Conference  this  year  were 
Rev.  J.  G.  Yeiser,  Rev.  D.  T.  Green,  Rev.  Peter 
McLain,  (now  grown  old  and  feeble)  and  Rev. 
Washington  Campbell,    Rev.   J.  S.  Hamilton  and 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  209 

Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams— all  to  the  Macon  Confer- 
ence, and  Rev.  F.  R.  Richardson  to  the  North 
Alabama  Conference.  Revs.  C.  S.  Greene  and 
W.  L.  Russell  had  fallen  by  the  wayside  this  year. 
The  memorial  services  were  very  touching.  Dur- 
ing the  session  the  news  of  the  victory  of  Harrison 
and  Morton  reached  us  and  Conference  cheered  it 
to  the  echo.  The  Endowment  Day  money  for  Sep- 
tember, 1887,  was  reported  at  $2,707.89,  while  the 
Dollar  Money  of  the  four  Presiding  Elder  Districts 
was  $3,183.  So  closed  my  first  Conference  as 
Bishop  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church— a  delightful  session. 

The  Macon  Conference  was  held  in  1888,  in 
Campbell  Chapel,  Americus,  Ga.,  opening  Novem- 
ber 14.  Here,  too,  my  work  was  equally  pleasant, 
my  welcome  equally  warm  and  the  session  a  profit- 
able one. 

Eight  preachers  were  admitted  on  trial;  Warren 
Rabon,  Chas.  J.  Perry,  Geo.  W.  Coady,  Perry 
Johnson,  Felix  O'Neal,  Robert  J.  Jones,  Henry 
Zimmerman,  George  W.  Smith.  The  deacons 
elected  and  ordained  were  Revs.  Daniel  J.  Law- 
rence, Henry  H.  Johnson,  George  Wesley  Hill,  Allen 
R.  Hooper,  James  Mitchell;  the  elders,  Revs.  Ar- 
chibald B.  B.  Wilson,  Wm.  B.  Gallius,  Daniel  J. 
McGhee. 

The  transfers  to  Conference  were  B.  R.  Glass 
from  East  Florida,  ("taken  up"'  as  he  could  not  re- 
turn to  his  Florida  work  because  of  the  yellow  fever 
scourge)  Brister  Griggs  and  John  Seabrooks  from 
14 


210  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

the  Georgia  Conference,  D.  L.  Durand,  D.  T. 
Green, J.  G.  Yeiser,  G.  W.  H.  Williams  and  Peter 
McLain  from  the  North  Georgia.  Levi  Walker, 
Wm.  H.  Smith  and  R.  A.  Hall  took  transfers  to  the 
North  Georgia. 

This  session  closed  the  19th  inst.,  and  I  proceeded 
to  my  work  in  Alabama  to  meet  the  North  Alabama 
Conference  at  Florence.  This  new  work  was  in 
excellent  condition,  coming  from  the  hands  of 
Bishop  D.  A.  Payne,  and  I  left  to  enter  upon  it 
courageously,  knowing  by  experience  that  my 
brethren  in  this  neighboring  State  would  do  even  as 
I  had  asked  my  Georgia  friends.  No  one  could 
have  asked  for  a  more  cordial  welcome  than  that 
the}'"  vouchsafed  me.  Truly  I  felt  that  my  lines  had 
fallen  in  pleasant  places,  and,  as  at  the  close  of  the 
session  in  Florence  I  turned  toward  Mobile  to  hold 
the  Alabama  Conference,  it  was  with  the  feeling  that 
all  my  experiences  here  were  also  to  be  pleasant. 
Nor  was  I  disappointed,  for  the  same  warmth  and 
hearty  regard  were  found  in  that  city  as  well,  and 
continued  throughout  the  entire  session.  The  year's 
work  in  Alabama  pleased  me  as  shown  by  the  Con- 
ference, the  men,  their  characters  and  their  labors 
there. 

From  Mobile  my  steps  were  turned  to  Georgia 
again  to  hold  the  Georgia  Conference  in  Cuthbert, 
December  12th,  having  made  with  this  Conference 
the  circuit  of  the  Conference  work  in  the  Sixth 
Episcopal  District.  To  my  appeal,  as  in  the  other 
Conferences  of   my  native  State,  that  they  should 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  211 

help  me  to  raise  still  higher  the  work  left  by  Bishop, 
Shorter,  I  was  assured  that  the  Georgia  "  Invinci- 
bles"  would  be  true  and  lead  the  Sixth  district  to 
victory  in  1892.  As  in  the  other  Conferences  a 
harmonious  session  was  passed.  The  preachers 
seemed  determined  to  work  hand  in  hand  with  their 
new  Bishop  and  the  Presiding  Elders. 

The  following  were  ordained  deacons:  Revs. 
Henry  M.  Crittenden,  J.  T.  Smith,  G.  W.  C.  Jones, 
J.  W.  Nixton,  Jerry  Brown,  (local);  elders,  Revs. 
Judge  D.  Glenn  and  Cyrus  J.  Pettigrew,  re-obli- 
gated. 

E.  D.  Garman  and  local  deacons,  Jacob  Seabrooks 
and  J.  Rastick,  also  E.  J.  Knight,  had  died. 

The  editor  of  the  Southern  Christian  Recorder, 
located  at  Selma,  Alabama,  was  present  and  indi- 
cated that  as  soon  as  the  financial  condition  would 
allow,  this  organ  of  the  Church  would  be  printed  in 
Atlanta.  The  Conference  was  strongly  urged  to 
use  its  own  literature.  Bishop  Arnett  was  also 
with  us  and  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Rev.  S. 
J.  Campbell,  a  native  African,  who  gave  his  plans 
for  our  successful  Missionary  operations  in  that 
country. 

The  coming  Sabbath  brought  invitations  from  the 
M.  E.  Church  South,  for  appointments  from  the  Con- 
ference, which  were  filled  to  the  glory  of  His  name 
and  the  honor  of  the  race  by  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett, 
D.  D.,  and  Rev.  W.  G.  Alexander. 

A  commission  was  formed,  looking  toward  uniting 
the  Alabama  Conferences  with  the  Georgia  Confer- 


212  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  J 

ences  in  the  obligations  for  the  support  of  Morris- 
Brown  College.  Later  the  Alabama  Conferences 
carried  out  a  plan  to  inaugurate  a  school  of  their 
own,  which  is  now  in  operation.  (1890.)* 

The  P.  E.  Districts  stood  well  in  all  ways.      The: 
Dollar  Money  reached  $3,915.77. 

-Payne  Institute. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  211 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EYE    OF    THE    QUARTO-CENTENNIAL. 

With  experience  which  comes  from  holding  the 
five  Annual  Conferences  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  I 
opened  up  the  Georgia  Work  for  1889,  with  the 
North  Georgia  Conference  at  Washington,  Ga.» 
Nov.  6.  It  was  an  especial  pleasure  to  me  to  come 
back  to  Washington,  Ga. — ray  birthplace — as  I 
met  many  old  friends  and  acquaintances  of  years 
gone  by,  and  I  was  led  to  think  more  seriously 
than  ever  of  the  goodness  of  my  Creator — led  to 
ponder  deeply  upon  the  wondrous  power  with 
which  He  has  guided  my  footsteps — yes,  the  foot- 
steps of  the  whole  race. 

Rev.  D.J.  McGhee,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Griffin 
District,  preached  the  annual  sermon  with  rever- 
ence and  truth  from  Acts  iv:  20.,  "We  cannot  but 
speak  the  things  which  we  have  seen  and  heard." 

Among  the  General  Officers  present  were  Dr.  J. 
C.  Embry,  Dr.  W.  D.  Johnson.  Dr.  L.  H.  Coppin, 
of  the  Review  was  also  with  us,  and  each  and  all 
spoke  cheering  words  to  us  as  well  as  persuasive 
ones  for  the  causes  they  represented. 

The  new  Principal  of  Morris-Brown  College, 
Professor  A.  St.  George  Richardson,  gave  a  strong 


214  AFKICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

report  of  this  school  which  was  growing  so  rapidly r 
having  six  teachers  and  320  pupils  with  three  courses 
of  study  entered  upon — English,  Normal  and  Ac- 
ademic. The  Treasurer's  Report  was  equally  en- 
couraging. 

The  finances  of  the  Conference  also  were  in  most 
excellent  condition.  Contingent,  Missionary,  En- 
dowment Day  and  Children's  Day  Money,  each 
rolled  up  beyond  past  sums  in  a  most  gratifying. 
manner. 

Two  of  the  superannuated  elders  had  fallen' 
asleep  in  Christ  this  past  year — Rev.  C.  R  Edwards 
and  JEsop  Smith,  while  the  wives  of  Elder  S.  H. 
Robertson  and  Elder  J.  McGhee  had  also  been 
called  home  to  a  peaceful  rest. 

Griffin  District,  under  Presiding  Elder  D.  J. 
McGhee,  had  brought  to  the  fold  1,006  souls  through 
the  faithful  ministers,  and  interest  was  growing. 

Marietta,  under  Presiding  Elder  R.  A.  Hall  re- 
ported average  work  as  a  whole.  Richard  Graham,. 
Presiding  Elder  of  Athens  District,  reported  strong 
work  in  the  ministry  under  his  eye  with  few  excep- 
tions, while  Atlanta,  under  Elder  S.  H.  Robertson^ 
had  been  a  success  both  spiritually  and  financially. 
The  Dollar  Money  from  all  the  districts  reached  a: 
total  of  $3,515.16. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were,  T.  W. 
Steele,  James  M.  Lee,  C.  Sappington,  G.  W.  More- 
land,  G.  W.  Gholston,  G.  C.  Summerlin,  R.  D. 
Stinson,  J.  R.  Fleming,  J.  H.  M.  Brown,  Marcus 
J.    Greene.      James  J.    Wilson,   John    H.     Heard„. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEAES    OF    FREEDOM.  215 

Patrick  W.  Greatheart,  Elijah  J.  Holland,  Luther 
C.  Rollins,  Matthew  E.  Cawthrone,  Henry F.  Chunn, 
Archibald  J.  Carey,  Perry  G.  Simmons,  James  M- 
Lee  were  elected  and  ordained  itinerant  deacons, 
and  Geo.  W.  Moreland,  Shandy  Parrott,  Cyrus 
Wilkerson,  local  deacons. 

Elder  Bradwell's  caution  to  the  Conference 
against  ordaining  so  many  men  under  the  missionary 
rule  was  heartily  endorsed  by  the  Bishop,^six  of  the 
above  having  been  so  recommended. 

Revs.  C.  W.  Simons,  A.  W.  Watson,  J.  A.  Cary, 
B.  F.  Franklin,  H.  B.  Bush  were  transferred  to  the 
Macon  Conference,  and  P .  W.  Greatheart  from 
the  South  Carolina  to  this,  also  M.  C.  Riley  from 
the  South  Arkansas  Conference.  J.  B.  McAlpine 
took  a  transfer  to  the  North  Alabama,  and  M.  N. 
Nelson   to  the  Tennessee  Conference. 

We  closed  the  session  upon  the  12th  and  pro- 
ceeded directly  to  the  Macon,  Georgia  Conference, 
which  was  held  in  Wesley  Chapel,  Milledgeville,  Ga., 
opening  the  following  day,  Nov.  13. 

Elder  Wright  Newman,  Presiding  Elder  of  the 
Macon  District  preached  the  annual  sermon  on  "The 
Light  of  Faith."  Rev.  Seymour  B.Jones  preached 
the  annual  missionary  sermon  in  which  he  referred 
most  appropriately  to  the  missionary  field  as  pre- 
sented to  the  gathered  ministers  at  Savannah  in 
1866,  and  the  trials  of  these  men  who  were  sent  east, 
west,  north  and  south  throughout  the  State.  His 
description  was  of  a  lot  such  as  all  who  have  helped 
to  spread  African  Methodism  have  experienced  in 


216  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

the  pioneer  work,  and  many  of  us  could  sympathize 
as  he  said,  "my  lot  was  up  and  down  the  Chatta- 
hoochee River.  While  on  that  circuit  we  were 
some  times  up  against  the  steamer's  boiler  trying  to 
keep  warm.  Sometimes  we  would  have  to  take  it 
afoot  across  the  country,  sometimes  a  friend  would 
have  compassion  and  give  us  a  ride  on  the  back  of 
a  mule  or  on  a  wagon ." 

The  time  was  approaching  for  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  the  A.M.  E.  Church  in  the  South, 
and  the  committee  reported  in  favor  of  co-opera- 
tion with  the  other  Georgia  Conferences  for  local 
programs,  with  the  double  aim  of  commemorating 
the  establishment  of  the  church  and  raising  a  large 
amount  for  Morris-Brown  College.  In  this  com- 
memoration, it  was  agreed  that  the  Conference  in 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina  should  arrange  this 
program;  the  co-operation  of  all  States  represented 
in  the  first  Conference  in  Charleston,  1865,  was 
also  to  be  secured,  while  the  church  in  general  was 
to  be  invited  to  assist  in  the  joyful  occasion.  * 

One  of  the  old  veterans  of  the  service,  Rev. 
Peter  McLain,  now  aged  and  feeble,  was  offered 
superannuated  relationship,  which  was  reluctantly 
accepted,  j- 

*  While  the  Georgia  Conference  had  spoken  of  celebrating  this  Quarto- 
Centennial  at  its  session  January  18,  M&i,  at  Quitman,  after  my  election  to 
the  Bishopric,  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  D.  D..  wrote  mea  strung  letter  calling 
my  attention  to  th  ■  importance  of  such  a  celebration  of  our  Southern 
work.  I  would  give  honor  to  whom  honor  is  due.  He  deserves  great  credit  for 
calling  my  attention  to  it.  Had  he  not  done  so,  the  eff  rt  made  by  the 
Georgia  Conference,  as  mentioned  above,  might  have  failed. 

-|-He  had  been  superannuated  at  North  Georgia  Conference  held  in  Rome, 
Ga.,  1887,  and  asked  at  the  sane  Conference  held  in  Dalton,  1888,  that  his 
superannuation  be  raised.  It  was  granted  and  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Macon  Conference  where  he  accepted  the  superannuation. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  217 

A  goodly  number  of  preachers  were  admitted  on 
trial:  Doctor  H.  Powell,  Samuel  H.  Charleston, 
Augustus  S.  Martin,  Charles  W.  Maxwell,  Frank 
L.  Fleming,  Riley  W.  McNeal,  Thomas  Howard, 
Robert  A.  Whitfield,  Charles  P.  Baker,  Alonzo  L. 
Field,  Jefferson  L.  Green,  G.  D.  Walker,  Wm.  F. 
Swindole,  Robert  W.  Miller,  T.  T.  Turner,  W.  T. 
Harris,  Richard  Bigham.  The  deacons  ordained 
were  R.  H.  Fairfax,  F.  C.  Crayton,  H.  L.  Davis,  J. 
B.  Upshaw,  S.  E.  Berry,  B.  Griggs,  J.  Barnes,  H. 
G.  Graham,  J.  C.  Hill,  J.  H.  Hall,  J.  Lewis  J.  Y. 
Rogers,  S.  M.  Zeigler,  J.  O.  Iverson,  C.  J.  Linder, 
G.W.  Linder, W.  Jones, G.W.  Smith,  and  J.Seabrooks 
and  J.  R.  Stroud  re-obligated.  Claiborne  H.  Warren, 
Robert  B.  Sanford,  Taylor  Cothran,  Alfred  Sapp 
were  the  elders  ordained,  with  Daniel  S.  Wells  re- 
obligated.    Elder  George  W.  H.  Williams  had  died. 

The  Dollar  Money  raised  was  $5,009.09  and  the 
membership  about  24,000.  The  transfers  were  as 
follows:  Revs.  C.  W.  Simon,  J.  A.  Cary  and  Levi 
Walker  came  to  the  Macon  Conference  from  the 
North  Georgia  Conference,  while  Revs.  Lawrence 
Thomas,  S.  B.  Jones  and  Cassie  Milton  were  sent 
to  that  Conference,  and  Revs.  Hadson  W.  Whita- 
ker  and  Haley  Hardy  to  the  Georgia  Conference. 
The  102  appointments  of  the  Macon  work  were  all 
filled. 

From  the  Macon  Conference  I  proceeded  di- 
rectly to  Wilmington,  N.  C,  to  hold  the  N.  C. 
Conference  for  Bishop  Campbell  on  Wednesday, 
November    20th.     Bishop     Campbell    was  ill    and 


218  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH; 

could  not  meet  the  Conference.  The  session  thus 
coming  into  my  hands  was  pleasant  and  profitable. 
The  Dollar  Money  was  over  $1,300.00.  Bishop 
Arnett  was  present  and  assisted  us.  Bishop  Turner 
also  looked  in  upon  us;  he  gave  some  helpful  advice 
and  left  us,  taking  two  ministers  with  him,  one  to 
Bridge  Street,  N.  Y.,  and  the  other  to  Albany. 

We  went  next  to  Greensboro,  Ala.,  to  hold  the 
North  Alabama  Conference,  November  27,  1889.. 
We  missed  connection  at  the  junction  of  the  East 
Tennessee  and  Western  railroad.  We  saw  there 
was  no  chance  to  reach  our  work  in  time  without 
going  through  the  country.  I  proceeded  to  Union- 
town  in  company  with  Dr.  James  A.  Handy,  Finan- 
cial Secretary,  Dr.  Levi  Coppin,  Revs.  J.  S.  Shaw,. 
W.  H.  Nixon,  and  others,  where  we  hired  buggies 
and  hacks  and  drove  twenty  miles  through  the 
country,  reaching  the  seat  of  the  Conference  in  three 
hours.  The  novelty  of  the  drive  through  the  prai- 
ries of  Alabama  was  pleasing.  One  hundred- 
preachers  were  awaiting  us,  wondering  where  their 
Bishop  could  be.  This  was  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting Conferences  that  has  ever  been  held  in  the 
State  of  Alabama.  The  white  citizens  paid  espe- 
cial attention  to  our  sessions  and  did  much  toward, 
helping  the  people  support  the  assembled  ministers. 

Drs.  Handy  and  Coppin  did  everything  in  their 
power  to  encourage  me  while  we  were  struggling 
to  reach  our  destination.  The  session  was  a  pleasant 
one  in  every  particular.  The  Dollar  Money  raised 
was  $1,545.00,  being  an  increase  of   over  half  the 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  21& 

amount  the  preceding  year.  The  ordination  ser- 
vices on  Sunday  were  interesting.  The  mayor, 
with  a  number  of  councilmen  and  aldermen,  were 
present  at  the  morning  service.  Dr.  Handy  made 
more  reputation  as  a  preacher  at  this  Conference 
than  any  other  preacher.  The  President  of  the 
College  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South,  with  all  his 
students,  was  out  to  hear  him,  and  his  sermon  created 
quite  a  discussion  among  these  students  at  their  sup- 
per table,  so  we  were  told  later.  One  young 
minister  said  if  making  him  black  would  enable 
him  to  preach  the  gospel  like  Dr.  Handy  they 
might  blacken  him  now.  Rev.  McGhee  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  in  Greensboro,  said  that  he  never 
expected  to  hear  again  the  gospel  preached  with  so 
much  power  and  beauty  until  the  Archangel  warbled 
upon  the  harps  in  glory.  Dr.  Handy's  imagination 
is    wonderful.* 

Dr.  Derrick  preached  at  night  an  eloquent  ser- 
mon. The  white  people  said  Handy  was  a  Geor- 
gian and  Southerner,  and  out  preached  New  York 
— they  having,  conceived  this  idea  concerning  the 
former  through  pride  in  the  South,  but  both  o* 
these  acquitted  themselves  grandly. 

From  the  North  Alabama  Conference  we  pro- 
ceeded directly  to  Union  Spring,  Alabama  in  com- 
pany with  Drs.  Handy  and  Derrick  to  hold  the 
Alabama     Conference.       The     ministers     met     us 


*Dr.  Handy  was  chairman  of  the  committee  that  examined  me  in  1866- 
for  admission  into  the  Conference.  This  and  many  other  things  connected 
with  our  ministerial  life  caused  me  to  hold  Dr.  Handy  in  great  respect. 


220  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

promptly  at  nine  o'clock,  December  4.  This  ses- 
sion was  intensely  interesting,  as  the  North  Alabama 
Conference  had  sent  a  committee  to  confer  with  the 
Alabama  in  establishing  the  Payne  Institute  at 
Selma,  Alabama.  This  was  the  first  material  work 
that  the  Conferences  of  this  State  had  ever  done  in 
the  way  of  establishing  an  educational  institution 
under  the  auspicies  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church.  The 
committee  after  consultation  agreed  upon  a  plan  of 
uniting  the  two  Conferences  in  the  effort  and 
brought  their  report  before  the  Conference.  It  was 
unanimously  and  enthusiastically  adopted.  We 
now  have  a  valuable  piece  of  property  located  in 
Selma,  and  known  as  Payne  Institute,  with  over  two 
hundred  pupils  and  three  competent  teachers. 

The  financial  success  of  this  Conference  proved  to 
be  the  best  in  its  history.  The  Dollar  Money  that 
had  been  from  $500.00  to  $800.00  increased  to  $2,- 
440.30.  This  unusual  success  brought  the  ministers 
of  the  Conference  to  their  feet  with  cheers  and 
shouts  of  victory.  The  Rev.  Layarus  Gardner, 
Lewis  Hillery,  and  other  old  members  of  Conference, 
declared  that  the  day  star  was  shining  brightly.  Many 
such  expressions  as  these  made  the  writer  feel  like 
weeping  silently  at  the  signal  blessing  of  God  upon 
our  effort  to  build  up  our  work  in  Alabama. 

I  left  Union  Spring  in  company  with  Dr.  Handy 
(all  the  General  Officers  but  himself  havingleft  me). 
We  stopped  at  St.  James  parsonage,  Columbus,  Ga., 
with  Rev.  D.  T.  Green  and  his  excellent  wife,  who 
did  all  in  her  power  to  make  our  stay  pleasant.  We 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM,  221 

visited  the  Merchant's  Bank  there,  and  Mr.  Brannan, 
the  President,  kindly  gave  us  exchange  on  New- 
York  for  all  of  the  Conference  money  on  hand, 
amounting  to  $3,500.00,  and  charged  us  no  exchange 
as    it  was   Church  money. 

We  left  Columbus  at  3  p.  m.,  reached  Macon  at  6 
p.  m.,  and  were  soon  domiciled    with    Rev.  L.    H. 
Smith,  pastor    of   Cotton   Avenue  church,  and   left 
the  next  evening  at  3  p.  m.  for  Brunswick,  Ga.,  the 
seat  of  the  Georgia  Conference.    On  Thursday  morn- 
ing,   December  12th,  the   Conference  opened   with 
nearly  all  the  ministers  present.     This   Conference 
was  exceedingly  anxious  about  the  amount  of  Dollar 
Money  that  would  be  raised,  as  the  Macon  Confer- 
ence had  already  raised  $5,009.00.     This,  the  moth- 
er Conference  felt  that  it  must  lead.     It   did    raise 
$5,090.00,  with  its  membership   reported    as  26,000. 
The  presence    of   Revs.  E.  P.  Holmes,  Newman, 
W.  C.  Gaines  and  L.   H.  Smith   made   the    struggle 
more  intense .    But  when  the  money  had  been  counted 
and    the    amount  stated,  it    moved  the   Conference 
into  almost  unprecedented  excitement.    The  visitors 
from  Macon  Conference  surrendered,  acknowledging 
that  they  were  beaten    till  next   Conference.    This 
was  a  glorious  session  held  in  the  little  city   by    the 
sea — a  beautiful  city  and  most  pleasant  for  a  winter 
resort. 

The  South  Carolina  Conference,  through  Bishop 
Arnett,  sent  greeting  with  the  announcement  of  $4,- 
150,00  raised  in  Dollar  Money.  A  telegram  was  also 
received  from  Bishop  Campbell,   thanking  the  Con- 


222  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH; 

ference  for  one  sent  him,  tendering  sympathy  in  his 
afflicted  state. 

Schools,  points— all  were  in  a  prosperous  condition. 
Rev.  Henry  Porter  asked  for  superannuated  rela- 
tions. Preparations  were  entered  into  for  the  Quarto- 
Centennial,  and  a  grand  time  anticipated. 

The  preachers  admitted  on  trial  were  W.  D.  John- 
son, Howard  Bunts,  S.  R.  Foster,  Robert  Evans, 
Wm.  Daniels,  G.  B.  Davis,  J.  W.  Smith,  Benjamin 
Roberts,  A.  Parker,  J.  R.  Thornton,  W.  E.  Shaw, 
and  J.  H.  McNatt.  The  elders  ordained  were  C.  H. 
Williams,  S.  M.  Matchett,  F.  H.  Henderson  and 
S.  P.  Jackson.  But  one,  Rev.  Marshall  Stephens, 
had  died. 

The  session  was  closed,  appointments  read  out, 
and  general  satisfaction  given.  This  pleasing  feat- 
ure has  so  far  characterized  all .  the  Conferences  I 
have  so  far  held.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the 
Lord  will  continue  this  in  the  future  as  in  the  past 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  223 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  SIXTH  EPISCOPAL  DISTRICT. 

A  brief  review  of  the  work  in  Georgia  will  best 
show  the  condition  of  the  work  in  that  State.  It  has 
been  that  of  the  most  rapid  growth.  The  Macon 
Conference  was  organized  1883  by  Bishop  Wm.  F. 
Dickerson,  and  this  last  Conference  has  shown  the 
most  astonishing  increase.  It  is  the  youngest,  but 
is  now  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  strong  as  the  Mother 
Conference  (Georgia).  It  has  five  Presiding  El- 
der Districts,  while  the  North  Georgia  has  five  and 
the  Georgia  seven.  The  Georgia  Conference  has 
for  its  leading  appointments,  Macon,  Augusta,  Co- 
lumbus, Milledgeville,  Americus  and  many  other 
smaller  towns. 

In  Ihe  beautiful,  healthful  city  of  Macon,  the  Cot- 
ton Avenue  Church,  a  splendid  brick  affair,  owes  its 
erection  to  Rev.  T.  G.  Steward,  who  labored  in  that 
city  long  and  faithfully.  St.  James  Church,  in  Co- 
lumbus, and  Bethel  Church,  in  Atlanta,  were  the  re- 
sults of  the  efforts  of  the  writer,  who,  by  these  means, 
has  been  enabled  to  glorify  God  and  uphold  the  abil- 
ity of  the   race. 

In  this  Conference  some  of  the  leading  men  who 
have  worked  and  fought  the  good  fight   for  years 


224  AFRICAN   METHODISM    IN   THE    SOUTH; 

are  Revs.  J.  A.  Wood,  Henry  Strickland,  J.  EL 
Lofton,  W.  O.  P.  Sherman,  S.D.  Roseborough,  I.  S. 
Hamilton,  A.  W.  Lowe,  W.  H.  Powell,  S.  M. 
Clark,  H.  H.  Taylor,  E.  Lowry,  H.  B.  DowdellJ.. 
H .  Adams,  S.  C.  Powell,  R.  R.  Downs.  North 
Georgia  furnishes  us  from  its  ranks,  such  men  as 
Elder  S.  H.  Robertson,  C.  L.  Bradwell,  R.  A.  Hall, 
Richard  Graham,  Lawrence  Thomas,  D.  J.  Mc- 
Ghee,  J.  L.  Flipper,  A.  S.  Jackson,  E.W.  Lee,  J.  H. 
Hillsom,  S.  B.  Jones,  E.  A.  Shepherd;  and  the 
youthful  Macon  Conference  gives  to  the  cause,  E.  P. 
Holmes,  Wright  Newman,  L.  H.  Smith,  W.  C. 
Banton,  Henry  Lester,  D.  T.  Green,  J.  T.  Yeiser, 
W.  C.  Gaines,  Allen  Cooper,  J.  A.  Cary,  Francis 
Bodie. 

There  have  been  forty-eight  annual  Conferences 
held  within  the  State  up  to  date,  not  counting  the 
S.  C.  Conference  held  in  Savannah  in  1866  while 
Georgia  was  yet  a  mission  work.  These  have  been 
under  the  supervision  of  seven  regularly  appointed 
Bishops  during  as  many  quadrenniums,  and  of 
whose  work  we  speak  elsewhere.  In  these  forty- 
eight  we  include  the  separate  Conferences  held  after 
the  first  division  in  1873,  vvhich  gave  us  the  Georgia 
and  North  Georgia,  and  also  after  the  second  divis- 
ion in  I883,  adding  the  Macon  Conference  to  the 
above.* 

West  of  Georgia  lies  the  State  of  Alabama, 
which  in  its  church  work  has  been  very  closely  con- 


*For  list  of  the  Georgia  Conferences,  also  all  previous  to  1867,  see  Ap- 
pendix. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  225 

nected  with  the  former  State,  and  separated  physi- 
cally only  in  part  by  the  waters  of  the  Chattahoo- 
chee as  they  flow  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
It  is  a  State  that  contains  a  large  colored  popula- 
tion— a  State  of  great  interest  to  the  A.  M.  E.Church, 
and  one  to  which  the  Southern  Mission  work  of  our 
church  reached  out  its  arms  first  of  all,  as  soon  as 
the  work  had  begun  in  that  section.  A  few 
facts  concerning  this  State,  which  has  taken  such 
wonderful  strides  in  its  industries  of  late,  will  be  all 
that  the  writer  will  attempt  to  give  here.* 

African  Methodism  was  known  to  exist  in  the  city 
of  Mobile  as  early  as  1820,  but  according  to  our 
authority,  "the  walls  of  slavery  were  towering  high, 
therefore  the  little  band  had  to  bow  low  again." 
Again  in  1864,  Rev.  J.  P.  Campbell  and  Rev.  M. 
M.  Clark  came  to  that  city,  meeting  with  quite  a 
cool  reception,  owing  to  misunderstandings,  but  the 
"old  white  college"  threw  open  her  doors,  and 
these  two  preached  the  Gospel  in  the  name  of  Afri- 
can Methodism. 

In  1867  the  Georgia  Conference  spread  its  mis- 
sion work  into  that  State  upon  its  eastern  borders, 
and  Bishop  Wayman  gave  appointments  to  Al- 
abama when  he  gave  them  to  Louisiana.  The  first 
mission  work  for  African  Methodism,  as  far  as  can 
be  ascertained,  was  undertaken  in  1867  and  1868  by 

*  The  facts  given  here.; are  upon  the  authority  of  statement  recorded 
in  the  Alabama  Conference  Journal  of  1868,  in  a  short  sketch  upon  the  rise: 
of  African  Methodism  in  Alabama. 
15 


226  AFRICAN   METHODISM    IN   THE    SOUTH; 

Rev.  Lazarus  Gardner,  Cain  Rogers,  Peter  Lips- 
comb, Henry  Stubbs,  R.  B.  Bailey,  Ferdinand 
Smith,  Godfrey  B.Taylor,  Lewis  Hillery  andjacob  F. 
Crozier.  In  1868  the  General  Conference  set  apart 
a  separate  Conference  for  Alabama,  and  Bishop  J. 
M.  Brown,  assigned  at  that  date  to  the  Seventh 
Episcopal  District  as  it  then  stood,  organized  the 
Alabama  Conference  at  Selma,  July  25,  with  a  to- 
tal membership,  reported  from  the  thirty-one  points 
then  in  the  State,  as  being  5,617,  with  six  churches 
valued  at  $5,350,00. 

Of  this  first  Alabama  Conference  Lewis  Hillery 
and  R.  B.  Bailey  were  the  first  Secretaries,  and  the 
members  consisted  of  five  traveling  elders,  ten  trav- 
eling deacons,  and  seven  local  licensed  preachers. 
Three  of  the  elders  and  nine  deacons  were  trans- 
ferred from  the  Georgia  Conference  and  two  elders 
and  one  deacon  from  the  Louisiana  Conference. 

The  work  was  laid  off  into  four  Districts:  Union 
Springs,  Montgomery,  Selma  and  Mobile.  When 
Bishop  J.  M.  Brown  turned  over  the  field  to  his 
successor,  Bishop  T.  M.  D.  Ward,  in  1872,  there 
were  eight  districts  and  ninety-five  circuits,  sta- 
tions and  missions,  nearly  all  supplied,  while  the 
membership  had  reached  10,558,  and  the  number  of 
churches  increased  to  sixty-six,  valued,  with  other 
church  property,  at  $44,600.53.  At  the  close  of  the 
year  1875,  we  find  a  report  of  9,135  members,  (a 
falling  off,  but  whether  due  to  the  Dollar  Money 
Law  or  not,  we  are  unable  to  say).  The  same 
record  gives  that  money  this  year  as  $1,283.55  '■>  there 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  227 

were  also  134  churches  valued  at  $68,000.00,  and 
233  local  preachers. 

Bishop  J.  P.  Campbell  was  next  called  to  preside 
over  the  district,  and  entered  upon  the  work  at  the 
session  of  the  Alabama  Conference  held  in  Selma, 
December  14,  1876.  In  1877  a  committee  on  "Di- 
vision of  Conference"  reported,  and  the  line  was 
agreed  upon  which  should  separate  the  Alabama 
from  the  North  Alabama  Conference.  The  latter 
met  at  Florence,  December  10,  1878,  for  its  first 
session.  In  1880  Bishop  Wayman  took  up  the 
-work  of  this  Episcopal  District,  and  after  a  success- 
ful four  years  turned  it  over  in  1884,  with  its  in- 
crease, to  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne,  in  whose  hands  it 
saw  four  prosperous  years,  when  the  writer  took 
charge  of  it  (188S). 

The  work  in  Alabama  is  growing  rapidly,  more 
rapidly  now  than  at  any  other  time  past  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Conference.  At  the  close  of  the  year 
1889  the  North  Alabama  work  included  four  dis- 
tricts and  seventy-three  points,  and  the  Alabama 
six  districts  and  ninety-two  points.  In  the  latter 
Conference  the  important  appointments  now  are 
Mobile,  Montgomery,  Eufaula,  Union  Springs,  Ope- 
lika,  Camden,  Clayton,  Troy  and  Ozark.  There 
are  four  points  that  may  well  be  mentioned. 

St.  John's  Church,  at  Montgomery,  was  organ- 
ized in  the  house  of  Brother  Thorp  Williams  by 
Richard  B.  Bailey.  This  was  on  the  south  side  of 
what  was   then  Market   street,  now  called  Dexter 


228  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

avenue.  *  The  church  was  organized  with  about: 
five  or  six  members,  who  worshipped  in  that  place 
for  sometime.  At  length  they  removed  to  North 
Court  street,  near  the  Alabama  river,  occupying  an 
old  work  shop  owned  by  Mr.  Frazier.  This  had 
the   advantage   of  being  at  least  a  public  building. 

They  continued  here  until  they  were  able  to  pur- 
chase the  beautiful  lot  on  the  north  side  of  Madison 
avenue,  between  Jackson  and  Ripley  streets.  At 
this  point  there  is  now  a  beautiful  building  improved 
and  repaired  by  Rev.  W.  G.  Alexander  and  said  to  be 
the  finest  in  the  State.  This  church  has  grown 
until  it  now  numbers  four  hundred  members,  but 
those  who  labored  for  its  organization  have  all 
passed  over  to  the  other  side — all  except  Richard 
Bailey.  Brother  Thorp  Williams  departed  this  life 
May  23,  1890,  a  true  devoted  Christian  and  a  lover 
to  the  last  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

The  church  in  Prattville,  Alabama,  was  organized 
by  R.  B.  Bailey  also.  It  was  given  to  us  by  Mr. 
Daniel  Pratt  for  church  and  school  purposes.  It  is 
a  two-story  frame  building  and  a  day  school  is- 
taught  on  the  first  floor,  while  the  chapel  worship  is 
conducted  on  the  second.  Gaines  Chapel,  at  Girard* 
was  organized  by  Professor  Allen  in  1888.  It  now 
numbers  seventy-four  members  and  has  a  very 
pretty  building  in  the  edifice  which  bears  this  name. 
This  field   will   be  an  excellent  one  as    the  future 


*This  avenue  took  its  name  from  Mr.  Dexter,  who  donated  to  the  citjr 
a  piece  of  ground  prophesying  that  at  some  future  day  the  capitol  of  th& 
State  would  be  located  there.  According  to  this  prophecy  the  capitol  has 
since  been  built  upon  this  very  plat  of  land. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  229 

■opens  up  before  us,  if  we  properly  care  for  it  and 
keep  good,  strong  young  men  in  it. 

The  first  church  (St.  Luke's)  in  Opelika  was 
built  by  the  A.  M.  E.  Church.  Its  trustees  have  now 
purchased  the  St.  John's  Church,  which  was  built 
by  the  C.  M.  E.  Church.  There  are  only  four  men 
in  active  service  now  who  were  at  the  organization 
■of  the  Conference  by  Bishop  Brown  in  1868 — Rev- 
Lazarus  Gardner,  Lewis  Hillery,  Andrew  James 
and  Richard  Bailey. 

In  the  North  Alabama  work  the  most  important 
points  are  Selma,  Birmingham,  Greensboro,  Union- 
town,  Demopolis,  Tuscaloosa,  Florence,  Tuscum- 
bia,  Decatur  and  Huntsville.  It  has  strong,  earnest 
workers  in  it,  with  remarkably  fair  prospects  ahead. 
We  can  only  name  a  few  of  those  who  are  laboring 
with  well-directed  zeal  and  with  sanctified  energy  in 
this  promising  vineyard  of  the  Master,  and  who  will, 
■God  willing,  make  African  Methodism  in  Alabama 
a  strong  power.  Among  these  are  E.  H. 
Dixon,  C.  H.  Calhoun,  S.  L.  Mimms,  A.  W.  Atwa- 
ter,  C.  E.  Harris,  I.  N.  Fitzpatrick,  W.  G.  Alexan- 
der, R.  D.  Brooks, J.  Brazier,  W.  H.  Mixon,  R.  M. 
Cheeks,  F.  B.  Moreland,  J.  M.  Gerdloe,  F.  H. 
Smith,  G.  W.    Watson,  T.  W.  Coffee. 

The  Sixth  Episcopal  District — Georgia  and  Ala- 
bama— shows  for  the  past  year,  1889,  the  following 
statistics  in  full  for  its  work  and  status:  Among  its 
ministers  it  has  322  traveling  elders,  177  traveling 
deacons,  131  traveling  preachers,  21  superannuated 
preachers,  44    local  elders,  47  local    deacons;  the 


ZdU  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

number  of  presiding  elders  is  27,  the  number  of 
appointments  516,  for  pastor's  support  $112,277.00,. 
for  presiding  elders'  support  $22,888.00;  there  are 
1,386  local  preachers,  451  exhorters,  9,616  proba- 
tioners and  95,754  full  members,  making  a  total  o^ 
107,207;  the  stewards  number  4,136,  stewardesses- 
5,249,  class  leaders  4,240,  official  boards  892,  trus- 
tees 4,280;  there  are  828  Sunday-schools  with  3,627 
officers,  4,052  teachers  and  37,  425  pupils,  having 
46,281  volumes  in  their  libraries  and  raising  $8,- 
518.58  as  a  total  of  Sunday-school  moneys;  the 
number  of  churches  is  S92,  valued  at  $737,134.00, 
and  the  number  of  parsonages  160,  valued  at  $56,- 
376.00.  The  grand  total  of  moneys  raised  for  all 
purposes  in  the  Sixth  District  last  year  is  $226,403.* 

*The  writer  is^indebted  to  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett  for  the  above  statistics- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  23$ 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

AFRICAN  METHODISM    EAST  AND  WEST. 

African  Methodism  was  conceived  in  the  North, 
The  State  of  William  Penn,  and  the  city  of 
Brotherly  Love — Philadelphia — sheltered  it  in  its 
birth. 

In  1787,  through  some  of  the  fiercest  trials  that 
ever  befell  a  people,  it  took  its  rise.  A  little  band 
tired  and  weary  of  caste  and  prejudice  that  made 
the  people  of  color  an  ostracized  sect,  to  be  shut  out, 
neglected  and  kept  within  control,  galling  to  their 
fervent  spirits,  resolved  to  assert  their  manhood 
rights.  They  desired  most  of  all  free  religion, 
thought,  action  and  worship. 

It  was  a  day  ever  to  be  remembered  in  our  land 
when  Richard  Allen,  with  the  few  who  were  to 
stand  by  his  side  in  this  great  movement,  shook  off 
these  shackles  and  dared  to  take  the  steps  that  has 
given  us    the  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

It  was  a  brave  deed  and  one  that  only  men  of 
strong  nerve,  strong  belief  in  the  right,  and  a  courage 
upheld  by  faith  in  God,  could  undertake  at  a  period 
when  oppression  was  so  cruel  and  so  severe.  They 
dared  much  that  we  might  be  free. 

The  little  seed  grew,  watered  by  divine  favor  and 


232  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

protected  by  friendly  hands,  under  His  guidance. 
Richard  Allen,  the  first  colored  minister  to  be  set 
apart  for  especial  work  such  as  this,  was  ordained 
by  Bishop  Asbury  in  1799 — twelve  years  later — and 
was  placed  in  charge  of  what  is  now  known  as  the 
«  Mother  Church  (Bethel)  in  Philadelphia.  Out 
through  many  difficulties — at  last,  the  Convention, 
which  meant  so  much  for  us,  was  called  in  April, 
1816,  and  from  the  surrounding  country  the  colored 
people  assembled. 

Then  and  there  the  A.M.  E.  Church  was  born,  its 
history  as  a  church  began  and  from  that  day  it  has 
spread  its  branches  far  and  wide. 

Out  of  its  first  General  Conference  in  that  year 
with  the  one  Bishop,  Richard  Allen,  it  has  grown 
until  it  touches  both  oceans  and  the  gulf  and  extends 
beyond  the  great  lakes.  It  has  taken  root  in  the 
isles  of  the  sea  and  the  land  of  our  fathers. 

If  we  take  the  grouping  arranged  at  the  Centen- 
nial of  African  Methodism,  held  at  Bethel  Church, 
Philadelphia,  in  18S7,  we  find  the  Eastern  Annual 
Conferences  to  be  four  in  number. 

The  work  extended  first  eastward.  To-day 
there  is  a  total  of  49,925  colored  people  in  the  six 
States  that  compose  the  New  England  Conference, 
geographically  considered,  Massachusetts  leading 
with  18,697  of  these  members.  The  Philadelphia 
Conference  has  within  its  bounds  90,000  colored 
people;  the  New  York  Conference  65,104  and  the 
New  Jersey  Conference  38,853.  With  a  total 
colored  population  of  243,882  in  this  the  First  Epis- 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  233 

copal  District,  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  has  85,000  en- 
rolled in  its  membership.* 

Churches  were  established  under  the  New  York 
Annual  Conference  (in  what  became  the  New  Eng- 
land Conference  in  1852)  in  New  Haven,  Conn., 
as  early  as  1837  by  Rev.  Charles  Burch;  in  Boston 
in  1839,  by  R-ev-  Noah  C.  W.  Canon,  who  also  estab- 
lished one  (Bethel  church)  in  Providence  in  1842. 
In  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  another  was  established  by 
the  Rev.  Eli  N.  Hall,  in  1843.  Allen  Chapel, 
Providence,  R.  L,  was  established  in  1816  by  the 
Rev.  John  T.  Haylett.  African  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Churches  are  to  be  found  in  Springfield? 
Chelsea,  Plymouth,  Worcester  and  other  places  in 
Massachusettes,  as  also  in  Connecticut,  with  various 
missions. 

The  western  work  was  growing  at  the  same 
time.  Societies  had  already  sprung  up  here  and 
there.  The  A.  M.  E.  Church  was  organized  in 
Cincinnati,  O.,  in  1844,  Feb.  4,  by  the  Rev.  Moses 
Freeman,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  go  to  Africa 
under  the  Colonization  Society,  a  veritable  pioneer 
in  African  Methodism. 

George  Boler  went  to  Chillicothe  in  1822,  and 
established  a  church  there.  In  1823,  one  was  es- 
tablished at  Steubenville,  and  others  followed,  scour- 
ing the  west;  but  up  to  1830,  all  the  work  west  of 
Pittsburgh  and  the  Ohio  river,  was  attached  to  the 
Philadelphia  Conference.     At  this   date   the  district 


Centennial  Budget. 


234  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH; 

became  too  large,  and  the  Ohio  or  Western  Con- 
ference was  organized.  The  ground  gone  over  in  a 
circuit  was  equal  to  the  Southern  work  in  its  infancy,, 
for  we  find  Columbus,  Urbana,  .Lancaster,  Cir- 
cleville  and  Springfield,  as  a  specimen  of  the  itiner- 
ant preacher's  work  in  the  early  days.  To-day 
Ohio  has  two  conferences  instead  of  the  scattered 
work  of  nearly  seventy  years  ago.  Then  came 
first,  work  in  what  might  be  called  the  foreign  fit-Id 
proper,  and  the  Canada  Annual  Conference  was  or- 
ganized in  the  North,  at  Toronto,  July  21,  1840,  by 
Bishop  Morris  Brown  with  eleven  persons  present 
and  256  members  reported  as  eligible  to  the  Con- 
ference. 

As  the  separation  of  the  Methodist  church,  North 
and  South  took  place  soon,  there  was  a  continual 
drift  to  African  Methodism,  growing  out  of  all  that 
which  was  to  follow  from  the  events  which  led  to 
the  civil  war,  and  the  final  bursting  of  every  fetter 
from  the  bondsmen.  Another  Conference  was 
added  to  the  list  in  1840,  as  the  banner  had  been 
planted  long  enough  in  Indiana  soil  to  demand  or- 
ganized work,  and  the  Indiana  Conference  came 
into  existence  at  Blue  River,  Oct.  2d,  under  Bishop 
Morris  Brown.  The  western  work  was  an  aston- 
ishment. Six  Conferences  with  a  total  member- 
ship as  reported  of  16,396  souls  out  of  the  one  ins 
1816  met  the  church  in  three  decades. 

That  was  well  for  a  people  hardly  out  of  slavery 
we  might  say.  The  New  York  Conference  work 
had  so  grown,  that  over  its  large  area    it  was  im- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  235 

possible  to  travel  and  do  the  work  as  one  Confer- 
ence. So  in  1852  Bishop  J.  A.  Payne  organized  the 
New  England  Conference  at  New  Bedford,  in  June 
following  the  General  Conference,  his  first  organiza- 
tion of  new  work  as  the  general  conference  had 
elected  him  and  Willis  Nazrey  to  the  office  of 
Bishop;  and  henceforth  the  A.M.  E.  Church  was 
to  have  its  work  laid  off  into  districts.  The  first  in- 
cluded Baltimore  and  the  New  York  Conferences; 
the  second  Philadelphia  and  New  England;  the  third 
Ohio,  Indiana  and  Canada. 

The  Southwest  had  opened  up  when  the  next 
General  Conference  met  in  Cincinnati  in  1856.  The 
Missouri  Conference  had  been  organized  in  1855 
with  2,249  members  at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  and 
a  total  of  forty-eight  ministers.  The  disturbing 
years  of  the  preliminary  throes  of  the  revolution 
which  was  upon  the  country  had  its  effect  upon  all 
things.  The  unrest  and  out-breaks  here  and  there 
necessarily  affected  the  churches;  but  in  spite  of  this 
the  work  was  extended.  After  the  opening  of  the 
Southern  field,  in  which  the  deceased  Bishop  R.  H. 
Cain,  labored  long  as  a  missionary  before  the  har- 
vest was  ripe  for  garnering  into  organization,  it 
was  only  a  matter  of  time  before  the  increase  came. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  that 
wonderful  new  life  and  energy  which  seemed  toss- 
ing forth,  vanished  and  strengthened,  as  it  were,  by 
the  blood  of  the  slave,  freely  expended  its  vitality  to 
extend  our  fields  of  labor.  It  is  impossible  in  a 
brief  chapter  to    note    the   progress   of  the    various 


236  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

Conferences  as  the  boundaries  widened  until  nearly 
every  State  in  the  Union  finds  African  Methodism 
planted  on  its  soil. 

To-day,  according  to  the  most  accurate  statistics — 
to-day,  a  little  over  one-hundred  years  from  the 
conception  of  our  church — we  find  that  we  have 
reached  the  work  that  requires  eleven  Bishops  and  a 
corresponding  number  of  districts,  including  our 
foreign  field  and  forty-four  Conferences,  exclusive 
of  foreign  work,  as  the  total, —  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
presents  to  the  world  for  the  actual  work  for  the 
Master  in  the  United  States.  In  this  work,  if  we 
follow  the  facts  presented  at  the  Centennial  of  the 
church  in  1887,  we  find  the  Eastern  group  of  four 
Annual  Conferences  takes  in  156  traveling  preachers, 
14,998  members  ;md  probationers.  The  Northern 
group  of  three  has  no  traveling  preachers,  9,770 
members  and  probationers.  The  Western  group 
of  nine  has  307  traveling  preachers,  21,785  mem- 
bers and  probationers.  The  Southern  group  of 
twenty-eight  has  1,697  traveling  preachers,  228,- 
541    members  and  probationers. 

This  shows  where  the  future  field  of  African 
Methodism  lies,  as,  according  to  the  same  authority, 
the  three  Annual  Conferences  of  Georgia  have  as 
many  members  as  the  Eastern,  Northern  and  West- 
ern groups  combined.  This  the  writer  can  fully 
corroborate  from  personal  knowledge  of  the  mem- 
bership in  Georgia  alone  which  is  now  over  100,000, 
and  we  are  sure  that  if  the  proper  returns  were 
made,  we  should   find  our  membership   everywhere 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    of   FREEDOM.  237 

increasing.  There  is  a  fear  that  some  of  the  breth- 
ren withhold  the  membership  on  account  of  the  Dol- 
lar Money.  This  should  not  be  so,  for  the  sake  of 
the  Church  generally.  Every  member  should  be 
reported  honestly  by  ever}-  minister,  regardless  of 
any  inability,  from  whatever  cause,  to  collect  this 
money.  We  need  accurate  statistics,  and  all  these 
things  help  to  make  them — and  so  to  weave  a  his- 
tory of  which  we  may  well  feel  proud. 


538  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE     SOUTHWEST     AND    OTHER     SOUTHERN     STATES. 

African  Methodism  has  spread,  as  we  have  said, 
all  over  this  broad  land.  Commencing  in  the  east 
it  moved  eastward  and  westward;  over  into  the 
great  Northwest  Territory  it  found  foothold, — in  the 
states  beyond  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  on  be- 
yond the  Mississippi,  as  noted  elsewhere.  From 
Kansas  on  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  to  the  Pacific 
States  beyond  it  spread. 

It  also  stretched  out  into  the  States  of  Arkansas, 
Texas,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Mississippi  and  Louis- 
iana, and  extended  downward  into  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  as  Southern  States,  aside  from  the 
three  clustered  about  Georgia. 

Bishop  Shorter's  first  work  included  Arkansas, 
Tennessee,  Mississippi,  Louisiana  and  Texas.  He 
organized  the  Texas  Conference  in  November, 
1868.  We  are  told  that  in  1872  there  were  but 
four  A.  M.  E.  Churches  in  this  State.-  These  were 
located  in  Galveston,  Houston,  Bryan  and  Corsicana. 
Out  of  three  Presiding  Elder  Districts  thirty-five 
appointments  were  possible,  while  the  Presiding  El- 
ders were  also  pastors.  Some  of  them  could  not 
write  to  any  extent,  and,  as  in  the  early  days  of  the 

"•"African  Methodism  in  Texas,"— Centennial  address  by  Rev.  W.  R» 
Carson,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  these  facts. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  239 

Church,  when  young  Richard  Allen  was  carried 
from  point  to  point  to  do  the  writing  for  the  Con- 
ference, it  is  said  that  H.  Kealing  has  accompanied 
the  Texas  ministers  for  the  same  purpose;  but  the 
work  was  done  and  the  foundations  laid.  Bishop 
Brown  was  assigned  the  work  in  1872,  and  under 
him  it  began  anew.  He  found  there  an  area  of 
237,504  square  miles,  and  a  population  of  253,475 
colored  people  belonging  to  six  different  churches — 
the  A,  M.  E.  Church,  Catholic,  Baptist,  Campbel- 
lites,  colored  M.  E.  Church  of  America,  and  M.  E- 
Church,  South.  This  scattered  work  led  him  to 
make  six  Presiding  Elder  Districts,  and  R.  Haywood 
was  placed  over  San  Antonio,  Wm.  Leak  over 
Chapel  Hill,  E.  Uammitte  over  Galveston,  H.  Wil- 
hite  over  Spring  Hill,  J.  Goins  over  Dallas,  F. 
Green  over  Corpus  Christi. 

The  work  increased  until  December,  1874,  when 
the  Conference  was  divided  into  Texas  and  West 
Texas,  with  the  Brazos  river  as  the  boundary  line 
and  three  Presiding  Elder  Districts  in  each.  Some 
trouble  arose,  but  it  was  easily  settled.  Then  the  edu- 
cational spirit  became  ripe  here,  too,  and  even  at  the 
first  Conference  it  was  agreed  to  have  a  Conference 
High  School,  and  one  was  established  at  Austin. 
The  1  the  Conference  took  hold  of  the  project,  which 
resulted  later  in  Paul  Quinn  College  at  Waco. 

Those  who  endured  the  hardships  of  early  work 
in  Texas  say  that  the  early  preachers  and  bishops 
had  many  of  them  up  to  I876.     But   the  work  was 


240  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

established  with  a  college,  a  numbrr  of  handsome 
churches,  four  Conferences  set  for  1890 — the  third 
being  the  Texas  Central  and  the  fourth  the  North- 
east Texas — a  good  church  membership  with  a 
growing  number  of  influential  preachers,  all  under 
the  present  leadership  of  Bishop  Abram  Grant,  in 
himself  a  power. 

The  Pacific  coast  was  struggling  for  a  long  time 
with  a  few  scattered  members  and  innumerable  dif- 
ficulties. Rev.  J.  H.  Hubbard,  Presiding  Elder, 
and  a  member  of  the  Colorado  Conference  in  I887, 
himself  a  pioneer  preacher,  has  said  they  could  boast 
with  Paul,  "  These  hands  have  ministered  to  my  ne- 
cessities and  of  those  who  were  with  me.  "  Twelve 
churches  and  three  hundred  members  from  the 
north  to  the  south  of  the  Pacific  slope  could  but 
struggle,  but  it  is  praiseworthy  that  the  work  was 
established  through  such  difficulties .  Bishop  Ward, 
when  still  an  elder,  was  appointed  to  this  region  as 
missionary,  and  to  him  is  due  the  first  organization 
of  churches.  True  to  his  first  work,  and  so  well 
adapted  to  it  from  early  experiences,  he  was  returned 
to  it  upon  his  election  to  the  Bishopric  in  1868.. 
The  work  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  now  dots  the 
coast  over  a  stretch  of  country  most  creditable  to  our 
Home  Mission  enterprise. 

Bishop  Shorter's  first  work  upon  entering  the 
Bishopric  was  to  organize  the  Tennessee  Annual 
Conference  at  Nashville.  There  are  now  two  Con- 
ferences.    The    Mississippi    Conference    was   also- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OP    FREEDOM.  241 

organized  by  Bishop  Shorter  in  1868,  and  the  Arkan- 
sas Conference,  at  Little  Rock,  was  organized  by 
him  as  well.  Bishop  Brown  followed  his  footsteps 
in  1872  in  what  was  then  the  Second  District — Louis- 
iana, Texas,  Arkansas,  Tennessee — and  under  his 
planning  Paul  Quinn  College  took  shape,  while  he 
organized  the  West  Texas,  South  Arkansas,  West 
Tennessee  and  Columbia,  S.  C,  Conferences,  the 
last  named  during  his  first  quadrennium — 1868-72. 
The  Alabama  Conference  was  organized  by  him  July 
25,  1868,  out  of  which  has  grown  the  North  Alabama 
Conference.  Bishop  Brown  superintended  the  or- 
ganization of  the  A.  M.  E.  Churches  in  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina.  The  work  in  Louisiana  was  begun 
in  1848,  when  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  was  organized 
in  New  Orleans.  Of  the  forty-four  Conferences  in 
the  connection,  Virginia  has  one;  North  Carolina 
one;  South  Carolina  two;  Florida  two;  Arkansas 
two;  Mississippi  two;  Texas  four;  Louisiana  two; 
Kentucky  two;  Tennessee  two;  the  others  are 
located  in  the  North  and  West. 

Stepping  eastward  over  the  Georgia  boundary  we 
find  the  Palmetto  State  with  its  twenty-five  years' 
record  doing  grandly  for  Christ's  kingdom,  a  work 
of  which  we  shall  soon  hear  from  a  pen  well  fitted  to 
prepare  it,  and  therefore  pass  it  by  with  no  further 
entering  into  detail  concerning  it,  save  to  prophesy 
that  it  will  still  continue  to  prosper  under  Bishop 
C.  W.  Arnett's  guiding  hand,  the  present  quadren- 


*Bishop  Arnett  has  in  preparation  a  history  of  South  Carolina  and  Flor- 
ida. 10 


242  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  ; 

In  1866,  when  Bishop  Payne  held  the  South 
Carolina  Conference  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  Rev.  Chas. 
H.  Pierce,  an  elder,  Rev.  Wm.  Bradwell  and  others 
were  sent  to  Florida  to  establish  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church,  They  met  with  great  success.  Rev.  C. 
H.  Pierce  fully  deserves  to  be  called  the  father  of 
the  Florida  Conference.  He  should  be  regarded  in 
history  as  bearing  the  same  relation  to  the  Florida 
work  as  Bishop  R.  H.  Cain  to  South  Carolina  and 
Bishop  H.  M.  Turner  to  Georgia. 

There  is  a  grand  set  of  ministerial  workers  in  that 
Land  of  Fowers,  men  with  whom  the  writer  hopes  to 
be  better  acquainted  in  the  future. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  243 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  BISHOPS  OF  THE  WORK  IN  GEORGIA. 

As  Bishop  Payne  has  told  us  in  his  "  Recollec- 
tions "  he  arrived  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  S.  C, 
early  in  May,  I865,  after  an  enforced  exile  of  thirty 
years.  When  he  left  he  was  a  young  man  of  thirty- 
four  years,  full  of  the  fire  of  ambition  and  earnest 
desire  for  the  education  of  the  race — abundantly 
testified  to  by  the  strong  work  done  for  Christ  and 
humanity  and  the  race  even  then,  and  later  an  inspir- 
ing monument  to  all  who  may  be  fired  with  similar 
zeal.  Now,  after  that  long  absence  he  returns,  a 
man  of  fifty-four  years  of  matured  experience  and 
wisdom,  to  take  the  step  which  has  opened  up  a 
vast  amount  of  territory  to  the  Mother  Church  and 
spread  wide  her  dominions. 

It  was  but  one  of  the  many  steps  that  this  wise 
and  venerable  prelate  has  taken  for  the  extension 
of  the  connection  eastward  and  westward.  He  had 
traveled  far  and  wide  ere  this  in  the  interest  of  the 
church,  not  only  as  Bishop,  but  as  the  historiog- 
rapher of  the  church,  appointed  by  the  General 
Conference. 

But  it  is  not  in  his  "Recollections"  that  is  found 
the  record  of  his  work  done  in  the  organization  of 


244  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN   THE   SOUTH; 

the  A  .M.  E.  Church  in  the  South.  That  he  has 
left,  with  characteristic  modesty,  for  some  one 
else  to  record,  and  the  full  account  of  that  work 
can  only  be  given  when  the  history  of  our 
church  in  South  Carolina  shall  be  written  as  a  com- 
plement to  these  pages  upon  its  sister  State. 

In  the  opening  chapters  is  given  a  survey  of  the 
rise  of  our  church  in  the  South,  and  of  our  Senior 
Bishop's  connection  with  it.  Here  it  is  but  our  pur- 
pose to  review  this  connection  with  our  work  as  well 
as  the  connection  of  all  the  Bishops  who  have  pre- 
sided over  the  work  in  Georgia. 

As  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne  was  the  first  Bishop  of 
the  South  Carolina  Conference,  he  was  also  the  first 
of  the  Georgia  Conference,  but  sent  Bishop  Way- 
man  to  hold  it  in  his  stead,  as  he  was  on  the  eve  of 
a  journey  to  Europe,  It  was  Bishop  Payne,  also,, 
who  presided  over  the  first  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence held  in  the  State,  in  Savannah,  1866.  The 
work  of  his  Episcopacy  devolved  upon  Bishop 
Wayman  during  his  absence  in  Europe,  which  ac- 
counts for  the  presence  of  that  distinguished  prelate 
in  our  Southern  work  at  that  time,  the  only  time,  in 
fact,  that  he  has  as  yet  had  charge  of  the  work  in 
Georgia.* 

To  Bishop  Daniel  Alexander  Payne  then,  belongs 
the  honor  of  being  our  first  Southern  Bishop.  It 
was  to  his  formative  hand  that  so  many  owed  their 


*Bishop  Wayman,  therefore,  was  not  one  of  the  regular  Bishops  in  that 
State,  but  as  one  of  the  workers  then,  we  would  say  that  he  was  one  of  the- 
most  popular  preachers  in  the  Church,  possessing,  too,  a  most  amiable  and 
kindly  disposition. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM,  245 

first  intellectual  training  in  the  early  private  school 
in  Charleston,  and  it  was  appropriate  that  his  should 
be  the  formative  hand  laid  upon  the  work  of  the 
Church  in  the  South  in  1865. 

As  a  man  among  men,  a  Christian  scholar,  a  de- 
vout disciple  of  the  lowly  Jesus,  and  a  leader  of  the 
young  in  paths  of  education,  the  writer  has  known 
him  from  his  own  youth.  His  hands  were  the  ones  laid 
upon  his  head  in  solemn  ordination  as  a  deacon,  in 
Savannah,  in  1866,  and  again  his  hands  were  the 
ones  which  consecrated  him  to  the  work  of  the  Bish- 
opric in  1888. 

The  elevation  of  the  race  has  been  Bishop  Payne's 
one  steadfast  aim,  and  he  has  been  father  and  teacher 
and  benefactor  to  all  who  have  come  within  his 
reach,  and  who  have  been  filled  with  high  aspira- 
tions. He  has  sown  most  beautifully  to  this  end  of 
the  goods  which  the  Lord  has  vouchsafed  him  in 
this  life,  and  he  is  reaping  already  the  fruit  of  his 
hands  in  the  cultured  youth  all  over  the  land.  To- 
day Bishop  Daniel  A.  Payne  stands  a  landmark  for 
all  who  desire  the  true  success  in  life  with  all  that 
it  means.  Now,  at  the  ripe  age  of  seventy-nine, 
passing  on  grandly  and  triumphantly  into  his  four- 
score years,  by  reason  of  his  strength,  supported  by 
God's  grace,  yet  are  his  days  not  only  days  of 
"pleasantness  and  peace,"  but  of  labor  still;  for  he 
meets  his  regular  duties  as  Bishop,  bearing,  in  ad- 
dition, the  responsibilities  of  Dean  of  Wilberforce 
University,  (the  intellectual  child  of  his  love)  and 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Combined 


246  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH  ; 

Normal  and  Industrial  Department  recently  opened 
up  there  through  the  generosity  of  the  State  of 
Ohio.  Though  venerable,  Bishop  Payne  is  remark- 
able for  sparkling  wit,  elegant  manners  and  solid 
talents,  yet  as  amiable  as  the  tenderest  woman.  His 
home,  made  desolate  by  the  death  of  his  beloved 
wife  in  1889 — a  gentle  lady  whom  all  now  miss — is  a 
model  for  comfort,  and  for  decorum  is  grand. 

The  General  Conference  of  1868  elected  as 
Bishops,  James  A.  Shorter,  T.  M.  D.  Ward  and  J. 
M.  Brown,  and  the  last  named  was  assigned  to  the 
Southern  work,  coming  to  Georgia  to  meet  the  An- 
nual Conference,  which  assembled  in  Columbus,  Ga., 
Febuary  6,  1869,  at  its  second  session.  For  four 
years  he  presided  over  the  Conference  until  1872, 
with  the  even  justice  and  courtly  bearing  for  which 
he  is  still  so  noted. 

Bishop  J.  M.  Brown,  too,  has  been  long  connected 
with  the  important  movements  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church.  In  the  North,  where  he  was  born,  he  was 
one  of  the  early  workers  in  every  good  cause.  He 
was  really  the  first  colored  President  of  a  colored 
school,  having  been  made  such  of  the  Union  Semi- 
nary, situated  near  Columbus,  O.,  a  school  that  was 
in  truth  the  mother  school  of  all.  Not  a  success 
financially  it  still  gave  birth  to  the  next  movement 
which  established  Wilberforce  University  in  1856* 
under  the  M.  E.  Church  in  Ohio,  and  which  passed 
to  us  in  1863.  Bishop  Brown's  genial  manners  and 
cultured  grace  betoken  the  true  gentleman  of  in- 
nate refinement,  while  his  wide  knowledge  of  men  and 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  247 

books  give  him  that  powerful  hold  that  learning  al- 
ways bestows  for  good  or  evil,  but  add  to  this  the 
Christian,  as  we  find  him  in  our  tenth  Bishop,  and 
we  have  a  combination  that  nothing  can  resist. 
Then  if  we  add  still  that  fearless  aggressiveness 
which  dares  anything  for  what  he  conceives  to  be 
right,  we  feel  that  then  we  have  but  feebly  expressed 
the  strength  reposing  in  this  one  of  the  pillars 
of  African  Methodism. 

Pages  might  be  filled  with  the  reminiscences  of 
this  Bishop,  as  he  has  labored  to  perform  the  duties 
of  his  office — labors  which  are  simply  the  extended 
efforts  of  those  he  has  ever  put  forth  throughout 
the  South  for  years  previous,  as  Missionary  Secre- 
tary; but  they  must  give  way  here  to  find  their 
place  in  the  individual  histories  of  what  these  men 
have  wrought  for  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  wherever 
they  have  been  sent. 

We  had  been  favored  for  two  succeeding  quad- 
renniums  with  a  newly  elected  Bishop  to  preside  over 
our  Southern  work,  by  reason  of  Bishop  Payne's 
absence,*  and  now,  the  General  Conference  meet- 
ing in  Nashville,  Tenn.,  in  1872,  sent  us  Bishop  T. 
M.  D.  Ward,  who  had  been  elected^  to  the  Bench 
of  Bishops  in  186S.  It  may  have  been  because 
there  were  no  new  Bishops  made  at  that  session 
that  such  an  one  was  not  sent  Southward,  still  the 
Southern  cause  was  enriched  by  this  method,  as  the 
bold,  pushing  work  done  in  the  early  years  of  the 
existence  of  our  church  in  the  South  shows. 

*Bishop  Wayman  was  elected  in  1864,  and  was  called  to  take  Bishop 
Payne's  place  in  the  Southern  work  during  the  latter's  absence. 


248  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

Bishop  Ward  has  been  from  the  first  of  his  min- 
istry a  missionary.  The  work  upon  the  Pacific 
coast  is  an  indication  of  this.  He  was  a  Pennsylvanian 
by  birth,  and  early  turned  to  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 
He  had  seen  four  years  of  service  as  Bishop  in  his 
old  missionary  field  when  he  was  assigned  to  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Florida  and  Mississippi.  He  is  one  of 
those  unique  men  of  whom  but  few  are  made  in  a 
generation,  one  born  to  command  by  his  very  pres- 
ence and  yet  with  such  dignity  and  impartiality  that 
the  sense  of  obedience  is  lost  in  the  admiration  of 
that  unconscious  power  one  perceives  him  to  wield. 
Under  his  direction  the  General  Conference  reached 
the  limit  which  saw  its  first  division.  He  has  ever 
been  a  worker  and  of  such  ability  that  the  mother 
college,  Wilberforce,  has  honored  him  with  a  degree. 
A  man  now  venerable,  yet  so  fatherly,  this  battle- 
scarred  veteran  always  brings  with  him  a  blessed 
gospel  message  in  his  look  and  an  experience  rich 
in  divine  love. 

In  1876  the  venerable  Bishop  Campbell  came  to 
the  Southern  field  as  presiding  Bishop.  His  hair 
was  then  white  with  the  snows  of  over  fifty  years. 
Like  Bishop  Ward  he  had  earry  entered  the  ranks 
of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  and  was  a  missionary,  but 
while  Bishop  Ward  went  westward,  he  was  sent 
eastward.  Up  to  1865  the  California  Church  had 
never  seen  one  of  its  Bishops.  He  then  visited  the 
Pacific  coast  and  organized  the  California  Con- 
ference. This  self-same  year  of  taking  charge  of 
the  work  in  the  South  he  visited  England  as  a  del- 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  249 

egate  from  the  General  Conference  to  the  Wesleyan 
General  Conference.  He  has  been  a  man  of  study 
and  encouraged  all  things  pertaining  to  an  education, 
urging  both  cultivation  of  head  and  heart.  His  gift 
of  $1,000  to  Wilberforce  is  but  one  of  many  gifts  he 
has  made.  Many  a  young  man  and  woman  who 
may  read  these  lines  will  recall  the  kind  words  and 
substantial  aid  rendered  in  time  of  need  when  acquir- 
ing an  education.  As  he  has  said,  he  now  forms  the 
only  link  between  the  founders  of  the  A.  M.  £. 
Church  and  his  generation.  He  was  the  first  man 
who  ever  moved  to  publish  a  periodical  in  the 
A.  M.  E.  Church,  and  he  has  been  fully  indentified 
with  all  the  great  educational  interests  of  the  wide- 
spread connection.  His  four  years  were  character- 
ized by  growth  in  the  work  and  pleasing  companion- 
ship, which  was  intensified  by  the  personal  attributes 
of  this  gracious  man  of  God.  Now  he,  too,  is  in  his 
declining  years,  sorely  afflicted  ;  but  the  writer  has 
been  only  too  happy  to  assist  him  by  taking  charge  of 
his  work  in  the  N.  C.  Conference  fon889. 

Again  a  newly  elected  Bishop  was  assigned  to 
the  Southern  field,  Bishop  Wm.  F.  Dickerson,  the 
thirteenth  Bishop  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  elected  to 
that  office  in  1880,  shortly  after  he  had  attained  his 
thirty-sixth  year.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Lincoln 
University,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  a  man  of  classi- 
cal mold  who  brought  to  his  work  not  only  his 
learning,  but  a  zeal  and  enthusiasm  that  wore  him 
out.  Life  certainly  was  with  him  a  "  fitful  fever." 
He  was  fired  to  overwork  whenever  work  presented 


250  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

itself,  and  as  a  pulpit  orator,  he  burned  with  elo- 
quence whenever  he  arose  to  speak  for  the  Master. 
He  was,  as  has  been  said,  "  aggressive  and  progress- 
ive,"  a  man  full  to  the  brim  of  epigrammatic  speech,, 
terse  and  forceful  in  all  his  utterances,  and  one 
whom  his  friends  cannot  soon  forget,  of  whom  the 
writer  was  one  of  the  nearest.  Among  some  of  his 
sayings  we  take  a  few.  In  speaking  relative  to 
preaching,  especially  when  seeking  to  convince  the 
hearers,  "  Let  all  preachers  especially  prepare  care- 
fully every  sermon  which  has  that  definite  aim. 
I  believe  that  a  preacher  should  always  preach  to' 
those  in  front  rather  than  to  the  amen  corner."  Again, 
"  A  man  who  rose  by  merit  alone  wras  like  one  who 
ascends  a  vast  height  by  regular  and  appointed 
steps,  but  one  who  had  been  too  hasty  and  had 
risen  by  improper  methods,  was  like  a  crazy  man 
who  had  climbed  to  the  top  of  a  lofty  steeple,  whose 
brain  began  to  totter  and  whirl  for  the  tremendous 
fall  that  awaited  him."  He  said  at  the  Georgia 
Conference  of  1883,  when  commenting  on  the  lesson 
in  Proverbs  which  he  read,  "  I  have  been  looking 
at  the  brethren  to  see  what  is  killing  them,  and  I 
find  it  is  not  the  bullet,  but  the  friction  of  life — the 
wear  and  tear — but  if  you  can  manage  to  keep  life 
sweet  and  temper  even,  you  will  enjoy  life  better.  " 
On  the  subject  of  speaking,  the  Bishop  said:  *  A 
speaker  must  begin  on  a  low  key.  If  a  man  vio- 
lates this  rule  to  an  extreme — not  too  long,  not  too 
loud — he  will   soon    die  in  the  Lord,   but  he    had 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  251 

better  live  in  the  Lord  and  do  the  work  assigned 
him.  " 

He  was  allowed  to  spend  four  earnest  working 
years  with  us  and  to  graciously  introduce  his  suc- 
cessor, when  almost  immediately  the  Lord  called 
him  to  "  rest.  "  When  Bishop  Wm.  Fisher  Dicker- 
son  died  the  church  lost  one  of  its  foremost  leaders, 
the  race  one  of  its  most  brilliant  pulpit  orators  and 
advocates  and  humanity  at  large  a  friend,  for  he 
was  a  large-souled,  warm-hearted  man  to  whom 
narrow  views  and  prejudices  were  strangers.  The 
appreciation  of  his  labors  in  Georgia  is  shown  by 
the  resolutions  and  speeches    mentioned  elsewhere. 

In  1884  another  veteran  soldier  entered  the  work 
in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  in  the  person  of 
Bishop  James  A.  Shorter,  who  had  then  spent  six- 
teen years  in  the  Episcopacy.  For  three  years  he 
was  allowed  by  Providence  to  exercise  the  authority 
of  his  office  and  then  he,  too,  was  called  hence 
(July  1,  1887),  the  third  Bishop  who  had  fallen 
within  the  short  space  of  less  than  three  years.* 

Bishop  Shorter  was  a  man  of  strong  personality; 
a  man  of  few  words,  but  glorying  in  deeds;  he  was 
frank  and  outspoken  when  he  did  speak,  and  withal 
generous  and  progressive,  a  man  who  won  many 
friends  by  his  unswerving  walk  when  once  fixed 
upon  the  path  he  deemed  right  to  tread.  He,  too, 
was  a  strong  friend  of  all  educational  movements 
and  a  free  giver    of  his  money  to  ail  needful  enter- 


"Bishop  R.  H.  Cain,  the  fourteenth  Bishop  of  the  A.  M.   E.  Church,  was 
elected  to  the  Episcopacy  1880,  and  died  January,  1886. 


252  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE   SOUTH; 

prises.  His  gifts  to  Wilberforce  were  indicative  of 
the  man  and  of  his  kindly  disposition  to  those 
things  which  were  dear  to  his  heart.  As  a  friend, 
he  was  unalterable,  unchanging  with  time  or  circum- 
stances. 

The  messenger  of  death  came  for  him  most  sud- 
denly one  pleasant  summer  morning  and  he  was 
called  to  answer  the  summons  at  once.  His  dear 
wife  had  already  preceded  him  to  that  better  land 
and  both  are  now  in  glory.  His  unexpired  term 
was  filled  by  Bishops  Wayman  and  Brown,  in  Geor- 
gia, and  Bishops  Campbell  and  Ward,  in  South  Car- 
olina. Thus  twice  in  close  succession  the  Georgia 
Conferences  have  been  called  to  mourn  a  loss  touch- 
ing them  more  closely  than  under  other  circum- 
stances. 

There  is  still  one  more  Bishop  who  has  had 
charge  of  the  work  in  Georgia,  the  present  Bishop 
of  the  Sixth  Episcopal  District,  Bishop  Wesley  J. 
Gaines.  Concerning  him  and  his  work,  the  follow- 
ing from  the  Budget  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  1881- 
84,  is  a  biographical  sketch  :* 

•'Wesley  J.  Gaines  was  born  in  Wilkes  county, 
Georgia,  near  Washington,  October  4,  1840.  He  is 
the  seventh  son  and  youngest  child  of  fourteen  chil- 
dren that  were  born  to  William  and  Louisa  Gaines. 
His  father  was    a  member  of    the  M.  E.  Church, 


-This  sketch  of  the  writer  has  been  corrected  and  revised  with  such 
additions  as  may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader  and  due  the  church  as  biogra- 
phy. It  is  because  of  this  latter  reason  that  he  has  been  induced  to  insert 
it  here. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  255 

South,  and  his  mother  was  a  Baptist.  They  were  a 
devoted  couple  and  lived  in  unity  for  fifty-eight  years,. 
until  the  death  of  the  husband  October  30,  1865. 
The  Christian  wife  and  mother  died  February  12, 
1870. 

"  Wesley  J.  Gaines  was  converted  at  the  age  of 
nine  years.  His  first  serious  impression  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  at  the  early  age  of  three  and  a 
half  years.  His  mother  was  at  this  time  praying  for 
him  under  a  fig  tree,  gathering  vegetables.  Her 
prayer  was:  'Oh  God,  make  this,  my  boy  Wesley,, 
such  a  man  as  thou  wouldst  have  him  be.  Make 
him  thy  son  for  Jesus' sake. '  The  solemn  impres- 
sion made  by  his  mother's  prayer  was  never  for- 
gotton. 

"  He  was  a  slave,  and  his  boyhood  was  spent 
upon  a  plantation.  In  early  life  he  was  of  very 
delicate  physique,  and  this  seemed  to  be  the  oppor- 
tunity that  God  had  given  him  to  learn  to  read.  At 
the  age  of  eleven  years  he  commenced  to  study  the 
alphabet,  and  by  divine  help,  and  some  instructions 
from  a  white  boy,  George  Daniels,  he  mastered  it  in 
one  week's  time.  He  learned  to  write  without  aid, 
simply  by  studying  and  imitating  the  copies  in  his 
book.  While  sick  he  would  lie  at  home  and  read, 
though  his  books  had  to  be  kept  concealed  from  the 
white  people.  One  night  during  the  civil  war,  the 
'patrollers'  called  at  his  father's  house  in  search  of 
books  and  weapons.  Wesley  hid  his  books  out  in 
an  ash  hopper,  and  much  to  his  sorrow  a  heavy 
rain  fell  and  the  lie  thus  formed  ruined  his  books. 


254  AFRICAN    METHODISM   IN   THE    SOUTH  J 

His  grief  over  his  loss  was  so  great  that  his  father 
gave  him  all  the  money  he  had  ($3.50)  to  purchase 
other  books.  With  this  he  bought  an  English 
grammar,  geography,  '  Peter  Parley's'  history,  a 
copy  book,  pen  and  ink.  The  first  letter  he  ever 
wrote  was  addressed  to  his  brother,  Stephen;  he, 
having  no  money,  dropped  the  letter  without  stamp- 
ing it  and  ran  from  the  office  as  fast  as  he  could. 
The  postmaster  notified  his  brother  at  Washington, 
who  forwarded  the  postage  and  received  the  letter. 
Stephen's  reply  to  this  letter  inspired  him  to  study. 

"In  1855  he  noved  to  Steward  county,  Georgia, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  Having  a  severe  spell 
of  sickness,  for  three  or  four  years  he  improved  the 
time  by  applying  his  mind  to  the  study  of  the  Bible 
and  other  books.  In  1856,  he  removed  to  Musco- 
gee county. 

"  His  call  to  the  ministry  dates  back  to  early  boy- 
hood. He  always  preached  the  funeral  sermons  of 
all  the  birds,  dogs  and  chickens  that  died  on  the 
place,  and  always  felt  seriously  inclined  to  preach. 
When  he  felt  most  deeply  impressd  and  desired  to 
go  at  the  work  he,  at  the  same,  time  felt  an  inclina- 
tiou  to  shun  it  ;  a  sickening  thought  of  dread  and 
awe  overcame  him;  he  fasted  and  prayed  and  thus 
found  the  '  yoke  easy  and  the  burden  light.'  The 
first  impression  that  he  was  called  to  preach  was 
made  at  the  age  of  six  years,  in  1846,  after  listening 
to  an  able  sermon  preached  by  the  lat£  Bishop 
George  F.  Pierce,  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South. 

"At  the    old    plantation,  in    Muscogee    county, 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  255 

August  20th,  1863,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Julia  A. 
Camper,  an  amiable  young  lady  of  charming  face 
and  figure,  but  whose  virtues,  Christian  life,  wifely 
wisdom,  succor,  character  and  mind  were  more 
noble  and  lasting  than  her  face  was  beautiful.  She 
has  been  one  of  the  few  wives  who  has  made  her 
husband's  love  for  her.,  and  of  which  she  is  so  wor- 
thy, rush  on  in  the  same  current  with  all  the  great 
aims  of  his  life.  And  to-day,  as  Bishop  Gaines 
looks  back  over  the  past,  he  says  with  pride, 
'through  the  efforts  of  my  wife  I  am  what  I  am.' 
The  only  child  which  has  blessed  their  union  is 
Mary  Louisa,  born  December  ist,  1872. 

"In  1865,  Wesley  J.  Gaines  applied  for  a  license 
to  preach,  which  was  granted  in  June  of  the  same 
year  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Davies,  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
South.  His  older  brother,  Rev.  Wm.  Gaines,  was 
ordained  in  the  same  month  by  Bishop  D.  A.  Payne, 
at  Hilton  Head,  South  Carolina,  and  appointed  mis- 
sionary of  the  State  of  Georgia.  He  visited  Co- 
lumbus and  established  the  first  A.  M.  E.  church, 
and  meeting  his  brother,  Wesley,  on  St.  Clair  street, 
was  the  means  of  his  joining  the  church  then  and 
there.  A  few  months  after  his  brother  died,  and 
H.  M.  Turner,  now  Bishop,  succeeded  him  as  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  Georgia. 

"Wesley J.  Gaines  was  admitted  by  Bishop  Payne 
to  the  then  South  Carolina  Conference,  at  Savan- 
nah, Georgia,  in  1866,  ordained  deacon  by  Bishop 
Payne  at  that  Conference  and  elder  at  Wilmington, 


256  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

North  Carolina,  by  Bishop    A.   W.     Wayman,  in 
1867. 

"His  first  appointment  was  to  the  Florence  Mission,. 
Georgia,  in  1866.  He  was  stationed  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  in  1867,  '68  and  '69  ;  Athens,  1870;  at 
Macon,  Georgia,  187 1,  '72,  and  '73  ;  at  Columbus, 
Georgia,  in  1874,  '75,  '76,  and  '77.  He  was  re- 
turned to  Macon  in  1878,  '79  and  80.  He  then 
went  back  to  Atlanta  in  1881,  '82,  '83  and  '84. 
During  his  first  appointment  at  Atlanta  he  built 
Bethel  A.  M.  E.  Church,  located  on  Wheat  street,, 
which  church  they  are  now  rebuilding  at  a  cost  of 
$30,000,  by  Rev.  Lawrence  Thomas. 

"During  his  first  appointment  at  Macon,  Georgia,, 
he  did  a  telling  work.  His  predecessor,  Rev.  T.  G. 
Steward, had  laid  the  foundation  of  Cotton  Avenue 
A.  M.  E.  Church.  Elder  Gaines  raised  an  indebted- 
ness of  $4,500,  and  during  his  second  term  com- 
pleted the  church.  During  his  four  years  at  Co- 
lumbus, Georgia,  he  built  St.  James  now  worth 
$20,000. 

"In  1870  he  studied  theology  at  Athens,  Georgia,, 
under  Rector  Henderson,  a  very  religious  and  lib- 
eral minded  minister  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  going  to  his  church  to  recite  twice  a  week, 
From  1875  to  1878  he  read  theology  with  the  Rev. 
Joseph  S.  Key,  now  Bishop  Key,  at  the  same  time 
he  studied  rhetoric  under  Rev.  B.  H.  Sasnatt,  of 
Oxford  College. 

"He  received  the  degree  of  D.  D.  at  Wilberforce 


OR  TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS   OF    FREEDOM.  257 

in  June,  1883.  He  has  raised  for  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church,  during  his  ministerial  labors,  over  $200,000. 
Whatever  success  his  work  may  have  been  blessed 
with,  he  attributed  it  directly  to  the  goodness  of  the 
All  Wise  One.  He  often  wonders  why  God  so 
feebly  blessed  his  efforts  in  the  pulpit. 

"  Dr.  Gaines  has  held  the  offices  of  Book  Steward 
of  the  North  Georgia  Conference,  member  of  the 
A.  M.  E.  Financial  Board,  Treasurer  and  President 
of  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Morris-Brown  College, 
and  also  Trustee  of  the  Wilberforce  University.  In 
1888  he  was  elected  Bishop  of  the  church  on  the 
first  ballot,  with  the  largest  majority  any  Bishop  had 
ever  received  in  the    A.  M.  E.  Church. 

"When  he  was  freed  at  emancipation,  lie  was  in 
feeble  health,  with  care  of  his  wife  and  aged  father 
and  mother  and  not  a  dollar  he  could  call  his  own. 
In  1865  he  buried  his  father  and  two  brothers,  Rev. 
Wm.  H.  Gaines  and  Reuben  Gaines.  The  funeral 
expenses  of  all  these  were  upon  him  in  his  state  of 
poverty. 

"Mr.  Gabriel  Toombs,  his  former  owner,  re- 
quested him  to  go  to  Washington,  Georgia,  and 
live  with  him,  but  he  informed  Mr.  Toombs  that  he 
was  called  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  since  a  door  had 
been  opened  to  fulfil  that  call  lie  felt  it  was  his  duty 
to  go.  Mr.  Toombs  spoke  encouraging  words  to 
him,  and  asked  God  to  bless  him,  for  he  himself  had 
been  a  Steward  of  M.  E.  Church  for  over  thirty-five 
years,  and  he  is  a  Steward  of  the  church  until  this 


258  AFRICAN   METHODISM   IN   THE   SOUTH; 

day  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  Bishop  Gaines  had 
the  pleasure  of  holding  the  Annual  Conference  in 
Washington  in  1889.  Mr.  Toombs,  though  in  fee- 
ble health,  visited  the  Conference  in  order  to  see 
him  and  introduced  him  as  "our  Bishop  Gaines  and 
my  friend." 

"He  told  him  he  always  knew  that  he  would  suc- 
ceed in  whatever  he  undertook.  He  sent  for  him 
to  visit  him  and  the  visit  at  his  house  was  very  cor- 
dial and  pleasant.  Every  man  is  what  he  makes 
himself  in  this  life.  If  we  respect  ourselves  and 
elevate  ourselves  in  a  position  to  command  respect, 
it  will   inevitably  be  given  us." 

"Stephen  Gaines,  his  oldest  brother,  seventy-six 
years  old,  is  living  in  Atlanta,  Georgia.  Augustus 
Gaines  is  a  successful  farmer  in  Muscogee  county, 
owning  a  plantation  worth  $5,000;  he  has  a  wife,  and 
thirteen  children  in  an  honorable  living.  Therefore, 
honest  work  is  no  disgrace. 

"We  have  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Gaines  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  study  and  religion  can  do  for  a  man, 
and  also  what  the  possibilities  are  in  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  for  a  man  who  will  do  his  duty.  He  may  be 
ap  ower  and  a  strong  tower  if  he  will  but  trust  in  God. 
He  may  be  unknown,  but  by  work  he  will  be  known 
from  Maine  to  Georgia." 

So,  from  1868  until  1890,  the  Georgia  work  has 
been  presided  over  regularly  for  six  quadrenniums  by 
the  six  last  named  Bishops,  and  Bishop  Payne,  who 
had    charge    of    the   work  in   1865,  '66,  '67,  gives 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  259 

us  seven  in  all.  Two  of  the  seven  have  fallen;  two 
are  aged  and  descending  the  hill  of  life;  one  has  long 
been  bearing  infirmities;  one  is  long  past  middle  age, 
but  bearing  well  his  years. 

One,  the  sixteenth  Bishop  and  the  youngest  of  all, 
still  thanks  God  for  life,  health  and  strength,  though 
he  may  be  the  first  of  these  remaining  to  be  called 
away.  God  in  his  wisdom  alone  knows.  May  he 
so  live  that  he  will  be  ready  whenever  the  summons 
comes  to  enter  triumphantly  upon  the  Life  that  is  to 
come. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  2(51 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

GENERAL    GROWTH    AND    FINANCE. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  the  negro  race  was  thrown 
upon  its  own  resources  or  the  kindness  of  its  friends, 
North  and  South,  for  substantial  aid  in  assuming  its 
new  responsibilities.  Very  few  individuals  of  the 
race  possessed  any  means  and  these  exceptions  were 
not  wealthy.  We  had  to  exert  ourselves  in  order  to 
become  adapted  to  the  new  state  of  things,  and  en- 
deavor to  arrange  our  plans  so  that  the  future  might 
have  for  us  better  advantages — more  luminous  pros- 
pects. We  were  worse  than  poor — we  had  not  been 
trained  in  the  school  of  economy,  for  poverty  and 
economy  do  not  by  any  means  necessarily  go  hand- 
in-hand.  We  were  destitute  of  all  else  except  the 
brawn  and  muscle,  which  the  labors  of  centuries  had 
developed,  and  the  virtue  of  patient  waiting  which 
had  become  a  part  of  the  race — one  of  its  most  noted 
characteristics. 

There  is  an  old  saying  that  all  things  come  to  those 
who  wait.  Freedom  had  come,  after  a  bondage  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years.  We  had  learned  to  work 
and  we  had  learned  to  wait.  They  were  two  admir- 
able qualities,  and  our  sole  stock,  when  the  Emanci- 
pation Proclamation  made  us  free.  What  could  we 
do  but  contmue  to  use  them  ?  This  we  have  done. 
Gradually  returning  prosperity  has  scattered  its  be- 


'262         AMERICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ) 

neficent  gifts  upon  the  southland,  and  among  those 
who  have  been  blessed  with  rewards  for  the  earnest, 
faithful  toil  of  industrious  hands,  are  the  colored 
people  ;  and,  as  a  people,  they  have  fulfilled  well  their 
money  obligations  to  the  churches,  according  as  the 
Lord  has  blessed  them. 

The  greatest  numbers  are  in  the  South,  and  there 
greatest  poverty  and  distress  exist ;  yet,  with  all  this, 
there  too  the  greatest  prosperity  has  attended  the 
race,  and  there  has  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  finan- 
cial growth  of  the  Southern  work  as  connected  with 
the  Church. 

From  the  first,  church  edifices  and  parsonages  were 
sought  for,  and  every  effort  put  forth  for  such  as 
would  be  a  credit  to  us,  so  that  the  property  the 
Church  owns  now  in  the  one  State  of  Georgia  alone 
amounts  by  a  rough  estimate  to  $400,000.  This  has 
been  accumulated  while  keeping  up  the  regular  col- 
lections, which  go  to  support  the  Church  work,  and 
this,  too,  has  been  well  done  from  the  first.  Without 
any  special  plan,  except  to  follow  the  laws  as  laid 
down  in  the  Discipline,  the  workers  brought  in  their 
mites.  In  1872  the  dollar  system  was  adopted,  and 
the  first  year  of  which  we  have  a  record  for  the  Geor- 
gia Conference  (1868),  before  this  was  in  operation, 
showed  us  by  rough  estimate  as  contingent  fund 
raised,  $156.50  ;  ministers' support,  $82,000;  Sunday 
school,  $207.00;  Book  Concern,  $97.00;  bishops' 
support,  $228.00.  The  year  after  the  first  division 
took  place,  in  1873,  the  two  Conferences  made  record 
that  the  contingent  fund  was  $207.67  ;  pastors'  su|  - 
port,  $35,328.64;  missions,  .$17.10;  dollar  money } 
$2,041.25.    In  1883,  nearly  a  decade  later,  when  growth 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    VEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  263 

demanded  another  division,  we  find  the  monies  from 
the  Georgia  Conference  alone  to  be  :  contingent  fund, 
$cS1.70  ;  pastors'  support,  518,347.38  ;  presiding  elders' 
salary,  $4,449.69  ;|expenses,  $113.15  ;  missions,  $42.44; 
■educational,  $178.70  ;  college,  $26.00  ;  dollar  money, 
$2,054.40,  aside  from  some  minor  sums. 

It  is  now  less  than  ten  years  since  this  last  report, 
and  in  the  year  of  1889  the  Sixth  Episcopal  District 
raised  a  total  of  $17,536.06  dollar  money,  and  $126,000 
for  all  purposes,  while  as  stated  elsewhere  the  entire 
total  of  the  monies  raised  in  the  Sixth  Episcopal  Dis- 
trict last  year  was  $226,403. 

There  has  been  a  steady  gain  in  every  line,  year  by 
year,  decade  by  decade,  but  the  last  year  has  been 
almost  phenomenal  in  its  successful  increase.  Our 
statistics,  when  put  fully  before  the  world,  will  show 
that  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  helps  largely  to  swell  the 
Christian  membership  of  the  world,  and  our  growth 
compares  favorably  with  other  denominations,  the 
general  statistics  of  which  are  given  by  reliable  au- 
thority,* and  from  which  we  take  the  following  : 

"The  growth  in  Protestant  membership  during  the 
year  has  been  668,000.  The  Methodists  gained  more 
tnan  256,000,  the  Baptists  more  than  213,000,  the  Lu- 
therans 98,000,  the  Congregationalists  more  than  16,- 
000,  and  the  Episcopalians  about  9,500."  The  gain 
in  Catholic  communicants  is  also  given  asjover  238,- 
000.  According  to  this  authority  the  Methodist  mem- 
bership outnumbers  the  Catholic,  whose  communi- 
cants are  estimated  to  reach  4,076,000.  "Then  come 
the  Methodists  with,  in  round  numbers,  4,980,000  ; 
Baptists,  4,292,000  ;  Presbyterians,  1,229,000  ;  Luther- 

:?The  Independent. 


264  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

ans,  1,086,000;  Congregationalists,  491,000  ;  Episco- 
palians, 480,000." 

An  analysis  of  the  work  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
shows  that  we  have  eleven  bishops,  seven  general 
departments  of  the  Church,  as  follows  :  The  Publica- 
tion Department,  under  Dr.  J.  C.  Embry  ;  Missionary 
Department,  under  Dr.  W.  B.  Derrick  ;  Financial  De- 
partment, under  Dr.  James  A.  Handy;  Educational 
Department,  under  Dr.  Wm.  D.  Johnson  ;  Sunday- 
school  Department,  under  Dr.  C.  S.  Smith  ;  Literary 
Department,  under  Bishop  H.  M.  Turner,  and  the 
Church  Extension.  The  last  four  departments  have 
received  their  greatest  development  in  the  last  four 
years,  dating  from  18  6,  and  all  are  well  supported  in 
the  South. 

Our  statistics  have  not  been  the  fullest  nor  in  the 
best  possible  shape  for  entire  accuracy,  but  no  one 
will  deny  even  then  that  we  have  gone  forward  with 
astonishing  rapidity. 

The  South  is  a  wonderful  land  of  itself.  It  has 
proven  itself  possessed  of  most  unusual  recuperative 
powers  in  its  struggles  to  arise  from  the  ruins  of  the 
civil  war.  It  has  been  said  by  many  who  are  looking 
it  over  to-day  that,  without  doubt,  it  is  to  be  the 
richest  country  upon  the  globe.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it 
certainly  combines  advantages  possessed  by  no  other 
section.  It  has  a  most  genial  climate,  a  rich,  produc- 
tive soil,  yielding  readily  and  bountifully  to  tillage  ;  it 
has  mineral  wealth  which  is  as  yet  hardly  known  or 
understood,  and,  aside  from  its  abundance  of  coal  and 
iron,  other  minerals  are  by  no  means  scarce ;  it  has 
timber  as  an  unlimited  source  of  wealth,  including  as 
it  does   the  best  of  woods,  from   the   noted  Georgia 


OK    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  265 

pine  to  nearly  every  variety  of  hard  woods  that  the 
wood-worker  may  find  a  use  for.  Its  water-ways  are 
numerous  and  easily  reached,  both  the  ocean  which 
skirts  the  long  coasts  of  a  number  of  the  Southern 
States  and  the  numerous  rivers,  large  and  small 
which  flow  from  the  inland  heights  in  all  directions  to' 
the  gulf  and  sea. 

Cardinal  Gibbons  has  well  said:  "With  its  coal 
fields  and  iron  lying  side  by  side,  with  its  cotton  on 
the  coast  and  its  wheat  in  the  interior,  with  its  great 
crops  of  tobacco  and  sugar-cane,  I  can  see  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  become  one  of  the  greatest  indus- 
trial centres  in  America."  There  is  no  reason  why 
this  should  not  be  so,  and  such  being  the  case,  there 
must  be  an  increase  in  financial  prosperity  for  all  but 
the  thriftless  and  lazy.  Since  the  census  of  ten  years 
ago,  fifteen  thousand  new  manufacturing  enterprises 
have  been  established  in  the  South,  we  are  told,  and 
they  cover  nearly  all  the  branches  of  industry.  The 
same  statistics  show  that  the  capital  for  new  under- 
takings in  one  year  alone  exceeded  sixty  millions  of 
dollars.  Then,  too,  since  that  date,  over  ten  thousand 
miles  of  railway  have  been  built,  and  thus  every  spe- 
cies of  work  is  greatly  facilitated  by  these  more  rapid 
means  of  travel.  With  this  last  outlay,  which  has 
been  estimated  at  over  $200,000,000,  we  find  the 
assessed  value  of  property  has  increased  nearly 
$1,000,000,000. 

If  we  glance  at  all  this  to  see  how  it  affects  the 
colored  race  we  sha  1  instantly  see  that  our  prosperity 
in  every  way  has  increased  with  the  growth  of  the 
South.  In  1883  the  negroes  in  Georgia  paid  taxes  on 
#0,000,000  worth  of  property  which,  in  1884,  had  in 


266  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

creased  to  more  than  $7,000,000,  and  is  now  (1890)  far 
in  excess  of  the  latter  figures. 

If  we  look  at  two  cities  of  this  Empire  State  of  the 
South  we  shall  have  an  idea  of  what  is  going  on  upon 
varying  scales  in  other  cities  throughout  this  region. 
Atlanta,  the  empire  city  of  the  Empire  State,  is  not' 
the  ghost,  even,  of  the  Atlanta  which  lay  smoking  in 
ruins  twenty-six  years  ago,  with  all  its  industries 
swept  out  of  existence  in  a  few  short  hours  by  the 
relentless  hand  of  war ;  and  yet,  like  that  wonderful 
bird,  the  Phoenix,  it  has  arisen  from  its  own  ashes, 
more  beautiful,  more  fair,  greater  and  more  magnifi- 
cent in  every  way — its  returned  prosperity  so  far  out- 
shining that  of  the  past  that  it  aids  in  creating  the 
era  of  better  feeling  between  the  sections.  Here  we 
find  a  large  number  of  the  race  engaged  in  business 
prospering  in  many  ways.  It  is  the  great  neyro  edu~ 
cational  centre  of  the  South,  with  its  public  schools' 
in  which  thirty-two  teachers  have  charge  of  over  two- 
thousand  pupils,  and  the  institutions  of  learning  sup- 
ported by  denominations  or  general  philanthropy?- 
among  which  are  Atlanta  University,  Clark  University, 
Spellman  Seminary,  Gammon  Theological  School  and 
our  own  Morris  Brown  College. 

One  hunc  red  miles  to  the  south  lies  Macon,  the 
beautiful  city  named  after  its  founder,  Nathaniel 
Macon,  and  lying  upon  both  sides  of  the  Ocmulgee 
river.  It  was  fortunate  in  escaping  destruction  in  the 
civil  war,  and  to-day  stands  with  its  past  and  present 
beauty  united  to  make  a  lovely  spot.  It  is  an  impor- 
tant railway  centre  and  an  educational  feeder  as  well 
to  the  higher  institutions  of  learning  through  its  ex- 
cel.ent  public  schools  and  the  Ballard  Institute,  known 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  267 

and  carried  on  for  so  many  years  as  the  Lewis  High 
School,  supported  by  Northern  generosity.  Here, 
too,  we  find  such  prosperity  for  the  negro  that  we  are 
led  to  make  from  good  authority  a  statement  showing 
how  the  race  is  flourishing  in  this  city.* 

A  few  years  ago  the  city  directory  gave  the  popu- 
lation as  9,673  colored,  10,619  whites,  with  the  colored 
people  paying  taxes  on  $86,550  in  city  real  estate, 
while  outside  the  city  limits  they  also  paid  taxes  on 
land  valued  at  $141,094,  which  was  one-ninth  of  the 
entire  valuation  of  farming  lands  in  Bibb  County. 
There  were  37  colored  shoemakers,  17  retail  grocers, 
45  draymen,  55  bricklayers,  80  carpenters,  1  dentist, 
42  blacksmiths,  9  harness-makers,  39  barbers,  2  mat- 
tress-makers, 4  machinists,  2  gas  fitters,  10  puddlers, 
11  clerks,  1  keepers  of  wood-yards,  1  pressman,  65 
railroad  employes,  4  United  States  mail  agents,  2 
chair-makers,  3  candy-makers,  3  coopers,  55  gardeners, 
23  painters,  2  upholsterers,  5  tailors,  2  bakers,  5  stone- 
cutters, 2  letter-carriers,  1  cabinet-maker,  11  ministers 
and  9  school  teachers.  These,  with  others,  made  up 
1,556  as  a  total  of  the  ;  eople  engaged  in  some  honor- 
able and  useful  business. 

There  were  also  14  churches,  with  a  total  member- 
ship of  about  3,700,  two  of  them  numbering  over 
1,200;  13  Sunday-schools,  with  2,000  members,  2  pub- 
lic schools,  with  seven  teachers  and  400  scholars,  and 
sustained  by  the  city.  This  is  not  counting  in  the 
Lewis  High  School  and  the  various  private  schools, 
which  would  enroll  a  total  of  over  700  pupils. 

This  has   now  (1890)   increased  far  above  what   is 


*The  "Helping  Hand."  a  little  sheet  published  by  the  pastor  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church. 


268  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  | 

given  here.  And  now  what  does  this  mean  for  our 
people,  I  ask  again.  It  means  that  the  statistical 
glimpse  which  has  been  given,  and  the  glance  we 
we  have  taken  of  the  growth  in  various  ways,  shows 
us  that  we  have  shot  far  ahead  on  the  way  along  with 
our  white  brethren.  It  shows  us  that  if  a  country 
comes  up — is  brought  up  by  whatever  means — that 
we,  too,  whose  lot  may  be  cast  there  must  have  risen 
also.  It  proves  the  possession  of  wealth,  also,  and  if 
this  be  true  of  the  race  (and  it  is,  throughout  the 
South  where  prosperity  is  stretching  out  its  beneficent 
wings)  then  it  affects  the  A.  M.  E.  Church — the 
Church  which  is  by  far  the  strongest  of  negro  Metho- 
dist Churches  in  the  South.  It  means  thereby  a 
strengthening  all  along  the  line  for  the  present,  and 
as  wonderful,  if  not  more  wonderful  progress  for  the 
future. 

This  is  what  our  present  status  is,  financial  and 
otherwise.  If  we,  as  a  Church  in  Georgia  alone  can 
raise  in  one  year  $30,536.12  in  excess  of  the  past  year, 
what  can  we  not  do,  God  helping  us  to  further  on  all 
the  causes  placed  in  our  keeping?  It  would  seem 
that  there  could  be  no  limit  if  the  Church  would  do 
its  whole  duty  in  the  matter  of  collection  of  monies 
under  the  Dollar  Law,  and  if  the  pastors  and  presid- 
ing elders  would  wisely  guide  the  extension  of  the 
work  into  new  fields,  see  to  the  improving  of  Churches 
and  parsonages,  and  throw  into  the  cause  of  Christ's 
kingdom  the  same  hearty  interest  and  close  business 
tact  that  so  many  are  exhibiting  in  the  management 
of  their  personal  affairs. 

The  South  is  destined  to  be  the  great  field  of  Afri- 
can Methodism  ;  we  repeat  that  here  the  numbers  lie 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  209 

here  the  opportunities  for  getting  wealth  are  greater, 
here  the  increase  by  natural  growth  is  more  rapid. 
We  are  destined  to  be  a  wonderful  Church  in  the 
future.  We  have  wonderful  interests  committed  to 
our  care.  Our  home  work  is  enormous  ;  but  there  lie 
before  us  our  mission  fields  in  other  lands  as  well — 
broad  work  stretching  out  before  us  with  all  the  great 
possibilities  for  us  in  those  fields.  We  cannot  cease 
to  push  forward,  and  though  we  rely  on  the  faith  in 
the  Omnipotent  arm  of  God  to  aid  us  in  all  good 
works,  we  well  know  that  God  requires  of  us  our 
honest  industry  in  the  cause  we  would  forward,  and 
that  in  this  work  one  of  the  great  forces  which  will 
aid  in  uplifting  these,  enlightening  and  evangelizing 
the  world,  is  money. 

The  African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  must 
strengthen  itself  financially  in  every  honorable  way, 
and  the  Southern  portion  is  forging  ahead  as  it  recog- 
nizes this  fact.  Since  the  General  Conference  of 
1888,  the  Dollar  Collection  has  been  nearly  doubled 
throughout  the  South.  This  is  accepted  as  the  guage 
of  strength.  Then  what  shall  be  said  of  the  Sixth, 
Seventh  and  Ninth  Episcopal  Districts  under  the 
writer,  Bishop  B.  W.  Arnett  and  Bishop  A.  Grant, 
respectively,  which  three  have  in  this  time  gone  ahead 
almost  one  hundred  per  cent  ?  Whatever  may  be  the 
cause,  it  is  gratifying  to  all  concerned,  and  proves 
at  least  that  the  Southern  section  is  not  made  up  of 
idlers. 

But  close  in  connection  with  this  financial  growth 
we  need  to  speak  further  of  missions.  If  the  natives 
of  the  Madagascar  Church  could  contribute  $200,000 
for  this  cause,  what  a  lesson  it  is  for  us  !    "  God  loves 


270  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  | 

the  cheerful  giver,"  and  he  blesses  such  giving  with 
increase.  We  are  shown  by  authoritative  statements- 
that  in  1883  there  were  47  missionary  societies, 
at  work  in  Africa,  having  in  that  land  250,000 
converts.  We,  too,  have  a  place  there  and  must: 
occupy  it.  "God  uses  the  enterprises  of  the  men  of 
avarice  to  open  a  pathway  for  the  missionaries  of  the 
cross,"  has  been  most  truthfully  said,  and  we  cannot: 
afford  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  work  in 
Africa  has  been  made  possible  for  us  by  these  very- 
means. 

To-day,  missionary  work  anywhere  is  not  the  terrible- 
thing  of  yesterday.  Advance  in  general  civilization, 
is  such  that  ways  and  means  are  more  numerous,  andi 
consequently,  the  work  is  lightened  of  many  hardships 
everywhere,  which  the  early  pioneers  had  to  endure. 
May  African  Methodism  produce  both  sons  and  daugh- 
ters for  the  cause  in  heathen  lands.  It  is  true  with- 
out question  that  "  the  Church  which  does  not  possess. 
the  missionary  spirit  cannot  prosper,"  and  the  Church 
of  our  fathers  should  be  a  grand  leader  in  the  grand, 
work.* 


*In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  in  order  to  continue  to  succeed  in  the  South- 
ern States  as  a  race,  and  as  a  Church,  our  ministers  should  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
peace  with  the  white  people  of  the  South.  They  own  the  lands  largely,  the 
money  as  well,  and  possess  the  culture  in  addition,  and  we  should  quietly  work 
and  bide  our  time  till  we  have  grown  rich  and  cultured  as  they.  In  that  lies. 
our  future  strength. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  '271 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

EDUCATION    IN    THE    SOUTH. 

There  is  much  in  life  generally  which  must  always 
remain  unwritten  history.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  life  of  the  negro  race.  Were  all  things  told,  the 
events  would  be  so  startling  that  they  would  bear 
upon  their  very  face  the  seal  of  improbability  to  most 
of  the  world.  Yet  it  has  been  proven  again  and  again 
that  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction,  and  the  truth  as 
portrayed  in  the  unwritten  history  of  the  lives  of  the 
negroes  in  America  is  the  strangest  of  all  strange 
truth. 

But  God's  hand  has  been  over  all,  and  as  Bishop 
Campbell  once  said,  "  When  the  slaves  arrived  at 
Jamestown,  Va.,  simultaneously  with  the  Mayflower 
at  Plymouth  Rock,  God  saw  colleges  and  universities 
for  our  people  in  this  land  and  for  the  millions  now 
in  Africa." 

For  years  our  people  had  toiled  in  rice  swamps  and 
cotton  fields  as  servants  in  every  menial  capacity,  as 
tried  and  trusty  friends  as  well  as  during  the  days  of 
bloodshed  and  battle  where  men's  souls  were  tried  to 
the  utmost.  But  they  knew  of  something  better  and 
higher  than  the  slave  life  they  led  then.  There  were 
summits  to  which  many  an  aspiring  mind  would  climb 
were  but  the  slightest  opportunity  given.  Yea,  more, 
these  would  climb  without   the  opportunity — rather, 


'272  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH; 

would  make  the  opportunity.  We  do  not  mean  to 
infer  that  amidst  our  deprivations  and  in  our  bondage 
we  were  shut  off  from  spiritual  things  ;  as  one  of  our 
Bishops  has  said,  we  can  truly  repeat,  'There  never 
was  a  time  when  the  white  Christians  as  a  body  either 
North  or  South  were  opposed  to  the  spiritual  interests 
of  our  people.  But  all  comprehended  more  or  less 
dimly  the  truth  which  Bishop  Payne  so  well  illustrates 
in  his  "  Recollections  of  Seventy  Years,"  when  he 
tells  us  of  that  step  in  his  life  which  so  largely  deter- 
mined his  future  ;  when  he  refused  the  offer  to  accom- 
pany a  wealthy  gentleman  to  the  West  Indies  as  his 
servant.  The  gentleman  asks  him  what  makes  the 
difference  between  the  master  and  the  slave,  and 
answers  for  him,  "  Nothing  but  superior  knozvledge." 
There  were  thousands  who  felt  this  truth  in  their 
hearts  even  then,  and  there  were  thousands  who 
resolved  as  did  the  one  who  stands  Senior  Bishop  of 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church  to-day — Bishop  Daniel  Alexan- 
der Payne — they  determined  to  seek  that  superior 
knowledge. 

But  ways  were  dark.  Here  and  there  a  little  help 
■came  from  friendly  quarters,  and,  in  secret,  the  alpha- 
bet was  learned  under  circumstances  many  times  par- 
taking of  as  much  adventurous  romance  as  the  wildest 
flights  of  imagination  could  conceive — when  the  few 
tattered  leaves  must  seek  strange  hiding  places,  when 
they  were  lost  again  and  again,  and  when  the  lash  was 
the  penalty  if  one  sought  that  knowledge.  But  it 
was  precious,  and  nothing  daunted  by  discouragement, 
loss  and  even  terror,  the  hungry,  thirsty  ones  delved 
and  groped  until  they  could  read. 

What  that  simple  phrase  meant  to  the  slave,  hardly 


OR    TWEXTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM".  2  <  o 

a  white  person  in  existence  can  conceive.  What  joy  ! 
what  gladness  !  what  visions  were  opened  up  when  the 
printed  page  was  no  longer  a  sealed  book  !  All  this 
few  can  imagine,  but  it  is  a  sorrowful  as  well  as  joy- 
ous reality  to  thousands  of  mature  years  in  the  days 
preceding  the  Civil  War.  Thank  God,  our  children 
and  our  children's  children  can  never  know  the  ways 
through  which  their  fathers  and  mothers  have  passed. 

But  these  learned  to  read.  It  was  a  spark,  fanning 
to  a  flame  here  and  there  as  group  after  group  drew 
near  to  the  light.  The  masters  little  knew  of  the 
amount  of  knowledge  in  their  slaves'  possession  for 
years,  so  secretly  was  it  kept,  and  yet  not  once  was  it 
turned  for  harm  against  those  who  held  them  captive. 

I  have  said  the  race  had  learned  to  labor  and  to 
wait.  But  when  the  bonds  were  burst  asunder  and 
their  acquirements  could  be  openly  used,  it  is  the 
wonder  of  the  age  that  so  soon  should  we  have  the 
learning  that  we  find  in  our  midst.  But  even  if  we 
could  not  boast  of  much  of  that  heredity  which  our 
masters  claimed,  and.  the  white  race  claim  to-day  as 
being  its  especial  gift  of  superiority,  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  upon  similar  scientific  principles,  the 
longing  for  learning,  the  secret  toil  to  acquire  a  little, 
the  patient  waiting  in  hope  of  more — all  must  have 
made  its  impress  upon  the  coming  generations,  and 
gone  far  toward  supplying  the  race  with  that  which 
the  white  race's  years  of  intelligence  and  learning 
claim  as  its  own  superior  possession.  Labor  and 
yearning  are  hereditary  as  well  and  do  their  work  as 
well  as  that  other  possession. 

With  the  first  opening  up  of  the  South  as  the  war 
drew  to  a  close,  the  teacher  came  with  the  preacher 


•274  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

from  the  North  to  the  "freedmen,"  and  both  were 
heartily  welcomed.  And  here  we  would  pause  to  pay 
a  passing  tribute  to  those  in  the  South,  once  before 
mentioned,  who,  feeling  the  wrong  of  slavery,  but 
weighted  down  by  the  incubus  of  the  system  and  so 
surrounded  by  it  that  to  them  it  seemed  impossible 
to  deai  justly  by  all  concerned,  but  who  endeavored 
to  ameliorate  the  condition  as  much  as  possible. 
They  are  those  to  whom  so  many  of  us  in  the  prime 
of  life  to-day  remember  gratefully  for  the  aid  to  a 
higher  life,  bestowed  though  it  was,  as  it  had  to  b'e,  in 
secrecy  and  in  part. 

We  have  said,  with  the  preacher  came  the  teacher, 
and  this  is  literally  true,  for  upon  the  very  gun-boats 
that  bore  these  there  came  men  and  women  to  minis- 
ter to  our  intellectual  needs.  They  came  from  pleas- 
ant homes,  from  the  midst  of  refinement,  comfort  and 
even  luxury,  and  braved  ostracism,  privation,  insult, 
danger,  that  they  might  lend  their  aid  in  lifting  up 
the  negro  race.  There  were  missionaries  among 
these  teachers  who  were  such  in  the  truest  and  most 
devoted  sense ;  and  when  the  writer  sees  some  of  our 
girls  and  boys  to-day  hesitating  and  declining  to  serve 
the  Master's  cause  and  the  race  because  this  service 
will  take  them  where  coarse  food,  rude  lodgings  and 
inadequate  accommodation  of  any  kind  face  them,  to- 
gether with  loneliness  from  a  lack  of  cultured  society 
and  companionship,  he  feels  like  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  if 
you  could  have  seen  what  we  have  seen,  what  others 
have  suffered  for  us  and  for  you,  you  would  feel  the 
blush  of  guilty  shame  that  you  could  for  an  instant 
hesitate  when  your  work  is  so  much  needed  !" 

We  need  the  missionary  spirit  in  our  hearts  and 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  275 

we  need  to  develop  it  in  our  schools,  for  there  is  work 
to  be  done,  which  as  the  years  go  on  must  be  done  by 
the  race  or  remain  undone.  May  God  raise  up  thous- 
ands of  such  young  men  and  women  among  the  negro 
youth  of  the  land  who  shall  set  the  example  for  future 
generations. 

The  North  occupied  the  educational  field  first  of 
.all,  and  if  space  would  allow,  the  writer  would  wish  to 
bear  personal  testimony  to  the  work  of  a  few  devoted 
followers  of  Christ,  well-known  to  him,  who  have  so 
nobly  administered  to  a  needy  race.  The  churches 
were  early  in  the  field  ;  the  American  Missionary  As- 
sociation covered  as  much  territory  as  possible  for  the 
Congregational  church,  and  the  Methodists  as  well. 
The  Baptists  and  Presbyterians  followed  closely,  and 
soon  State  after  State  held  here  and  there  points  of 
light  which  were  to  shed  their  beams  into  the  sur- 
rounding darkness — points  around  which  so  many 
hopes  were  clustering.  Even  the  islands  lying  along 
the  South  Atlantic  coast  had  the  school  house  in  op- 
eration upon  their  deserted  plantations  before  the 
guns  of  war  were  silenced.  Edisto  Island,  Hilton 
Head  and  others  saw  many  a  gathering  in  the  cabins 
where  by  the  "lightwood"  torches  the  first  mysteries 
of  learning  were  revealed. 

Little  by  little,  schools  were  established  in  the 
large  cities,  and  then  to  the  surprise  of  all  it  was  found 
there  were  many  of  the  young  who  had  secretly 
learned  from  the  forbidden  books,  and  were  soon  made 
ready  for  more  advanced  Work  which  in  turn  was  pro- 
vided for  them.  Our  schools — the  negro  schools — as 
a  whole  were  excellent ;  they  were,  in  fact,  the  best 
in  the  State  where  located,  and  it  is  true  that  the 


276  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

wonderful  strides  made  by  the  negro  in  these  years 
when  Northern  philanthropy  was  aiding  the  race,  had 
a  strong  influence  throughout  the  South,  causing  a 
step  toward  the  public  school  system  which  later  took 
its  rise. 

Our  Northern  friends  have  given  much  from  their 
wealth  both  in  a  public  and  private  way,  and  the  Pea- 
body,  Arthington,  Slater  and  Hand  funds,  with  others, 
have  aided  much,  for  all  of  which  we  give  grateful 
acknowledgment.  In  due  time  the  States  assisted  in. 
the  higher  education  as  well  as  in  the  public  school 
system,  Georgia  granting  $8,000  to  the  Atlanta  Uni- 
versity for  its  work.  The  day  of  illiteracy  is  waning. 
Give  the  negro  race  twenty-five  years  more — nay,  let 
us  round  out  the  century  and  the  census  of  1900  A. 
D.,  will  show  a  marvellous  increase  throughout  the 
South. 

Among  some  of  the  schools  which  are  maintained 
wholly  or  in  part  by  friends  of  the  race,  we  find  seven 
chartered  institutions,  twelve  Normal  Schools  and 
Seminaries,  the  Gammon  Theological  School,  the 
Centenary  Biblical  Institute,  and  the  Meharry  Medi- 
cal College — a  total  of  twenty-two,  supported  by  the 
M.  E.  Church,  as  reported  in  1888,  with  an  attendance 
of  4,506  pupils  under  a  teaching  force  numbering  124. 
The  Presbyterian  Church  (according  to  the  report  of 
the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1884-85),  sup- 
ports the  Brainerd  Institute,  Chester,  S.  C.  ;  Fairfield 
Normal  Institute,  Wainsborough,  S.  C.  ;  Yadkin  Acad- 
emy, Mebanesville,  N.  C.  ;  Wellingford  Academy, 
Charleston,  S.  C.  ;  Biddle  University,  Charlotte,  N.  C; 
Institute  for  Ministers  at  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.  ;  also, 
Concord  Seminary,  Concord,  N.  C.     The  American 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  'All 

Missionary  Association  also  supports  wholly  or  in 
part  a  large  number  of  schools.  We  find  by  the  re- 
port of  1889  that  their  work  for  the  forty-third  year 
of  its  existence,  in  the  South  alone,  has  demanded  an 
outlay  of  $255,083.84,  and  it  reports  113  missionary 
workers,  136  churches,  5  chartered  institutions  of 
learning,  18  normal  and  graded  schools  and  37  com- 
mon schools,  with  260  teachers.  Fisk  University,  in 
Texas,  Talladega  College,  and  Tugaloo  University,  in 
Alabama,  Straight  University,  in  Louisiana,  Tillotson 
Institute,  Texas,  with  Shaw  University,  and  Living- 
ston College,  in  North  Carolina,  Atlanta  University 
and  Clark  University,  in  Georgia,  are  some  of  the 
leading  institutions  for  higher  learning,  in  addition  to 
those  already  named,  supported  by  various  denomina- 
tions. These  are  a  few  examples  of  what  others  have 
been  and  are  still  doing  for  the  race. 

But  while  friends  have  worked,  the  negro  himself 
has  not  been  idle,  and  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  has  taken 
upon  herself  the  great  work  of  education  in  the  South 
with  a  most  creditable  showing.  Wilberforce  Uni- 
versity, the  mother  school  in  our  Church,  was  founded 
in  1856,  passing  into  our  hands  in  1863.  To  this 
school  the  South  has  sent  hundreds  of  its  sons  and 
daughters,  but  the  demands  of  the  times  called  for 
efforts  nearer  home.  We  had  had  small  schools 
taught  in  our  own  churches  from  an  early  period,  and 
among  the  early  workers  we  mention  Mr.  Lewis 
Williams  (spoken  of  elsewhere),  and  Mrs.  M.  E.  F. 
Smith,  a  lady  of  culture  from  Connecticut,  who  did 
an  excellent  work  at  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  in  Macon 
and  Columbus,  Georgia.  The  .writer  owes  her  more 
for  instruction  in  the  English  branches  than  any  other 


'2/8  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH; 

living  person,  and  takes  this  method  of  gratefully  ac- 
knowledging it.  In  addition  to  the  above,  we  make 
special  mention  of  Mrs.  S.  C.  B.  Scarborough.  Prof. 
E.  A.  Ware,  Prof.  E.  M.  Cravath,  Misses  Chases  from 
Massachusetts,  and  a  host  of  others. 

But  organized  effort  for  schools  was  not  put  forth 
until  later.  To-day  we  have  for  higher  education  the 
Kittrell  Industrial  School,  which  was  founded  as 
Johnson  School  in  1866,  now  situated  thirty  miles 
from  Raleigh,  N.  C,  with  an  efficient  corps  of  teach- 
ers. There  are  several  buildings  upon  the  property 
of  sixty  acres,  and  the  school  is  destined  to  do  a  good 
and  great  work  for  the  State. 

Southward,  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  is  situated  Allen 
University,  named  after  the  first  Bishop  of  our  Church. 
It  is  located  in  a  beautiful  spot,  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  center  of  the  city,  and  once  the  home  of  a  wealthy 
family  of  the  Southern  aristocracy  who  little  thought 
one  day  their  home  would  be  one  of  the  centers  of 
education  for  the  slaves  they  had  once  owned.  There 
are  four  acres  of  land  and  five  buildings,  with  four  de- 
partments in  working  order.  It  promises  well  for  the 
future.  It  first  opened  its  doors  in  1881,  and  has  thus 
seen  hardly  a  decade,  but  its  progress  has  been  on- 
ward with  instructors  from  Howard  University,  Hamp- 
ton, Boston  and  Wilberforce.* 

Down  in  the  southwest,  the  Texas  Conference  pro- 
jected a  school  in  1874  under  many  discouragements. 
Ground  was  purchased  in  the  city  of  Waco,  but  finan- 
cial disaster  came  near  overtaking  it,  when  a  banker 
of  the  city  (Mr.  Seeley)  assisted  them  out ;  but  they 


•"Payne  Institute,  formerly  located  at  Cokesbury,  S.  C,  was  sold  and  its 
proceeds  applied  to  the  purchase  of  Allen  University. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  279 

were  still  unable  to  build.  In  1881  they  changed 
their  location  and  purchased  twenty  acres  of  land  on 
the  east  side  of  Brazos  RiYer,  and  a  brick  building  of 
comfortable  dimensions  was  erected.  Since  then  the 
school  has  been  steadily  growing  under  the  presidency 
of  a  graduate  of  the  mother   university,  Wilberforce. 

Following  this  in  point  of  time,  we  have  the  Divinity 
and  Industrial  School,  located  at  Jacksonville,  Fla., 
with  a  large  brick  building,  commodious  and  elegant. 
Then  the  State  of  Georgia  followed  with  Morris-Brown 
College  in  Atlanta,  which  was  founded  in  1884,  and 
opened  with  one  hundred  pupils  in  1885,  October  15, 
with  the  writer,  whose  whole  heart  was  in  the  work, 
as  President  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

It  was  in  1880  that  the  ministers  of  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  in  Georgia  began  to  fully  realize  the  necessity 
of  such  an  institution  for  our  young  men  and  women, 
and  in  the  February  following  the  site  was  purchased 
at  a  cost  of  $3,500.00  and  paid  for,  Through  the 
providence  of  God  and  the  earnest  labors  of  man,  our 
prayers  were  realized  in  the  dedication  of  the  first 
school  of  the  Church  for  higher  education  in  Georgia, 
and  Nov.  26th,  with  one  wing  completed,  it  was  for- 
mally dedicated.  When  its  doors  were  swung  open 
in  October,  there  were  admitted  107  pupils,  increased 
now  (1890)  to  336,  with  seven  teachers. 

We  might  mention,  in  addition  to  these,  several 
schools  scattered  through  the  South  and  doing  well. 
The  Church  is  now  looking  after  the  following  schools 
already  begun,  and  several  others  not  mentioned, 
which  it  has  in  view  to  develop  in  future :  Ward 
Normal  and  Collegiate  Institute,  Huntsville,  Texas  ; 
Turner  College,  Hernando,  Miss.  ;  Dickerson  Memo- 


280  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

rial  Seminary,  Portsmouth,  Va. — all  looking  forward, 
to  the  day  when  they  shall  come  out  of  their  chrysalis 
state  and  do  honor  to  the  names  they  bear.  This  is 
aside  from  the  Mission  Schools  in  Hayti,  our  work  in 
Africa  and  the  British  Dominions,  and  the  following 
District  Schools  :  The  Normal  and  Preparatory  School,. 
Cartersville,  Ga.  ;  Payne  High  School,  Cuthbert,  Ga. ; 
Sumter  District  School,  Sumter,  S.  C.  ;  the  Abbe- 
ville School,  Abbeville,  S.  C.  These  last  show  that 
Georgia  and  South  Carolina  are  leading  the  van  in  the 
educational  line  in  the  Southern  part  of  the  Church.. 

Of  these  schools,  Dr.  Wm.  D.  Johnson,  Secretary 
of  Education  in  our  Church,  says  in  the  Centennial. 
Budget  : 

"  These  schools  have  been  originated  and  sustained 
by  action  of  the  Conferences.  The  money  for  their 
support  has  come  chiefly  through  the  liberality  of  the 
members  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church,  and,  to  a  surprising 
extent,  several  of  them  will  compare  favorably  with 
the  better  sustained  schools  of  a  similar  grade. 

"Together  they  have  a  property  of  nearly  $300,000  >'■ 
have  sent  forth  two  hundred  graduates,  besides  thous- 
ands who  prepared  themselves  for  immediate  service 
in  the  great  fields  of  preaching  and  teaching.  They 
now  have  upwards  of  fifty  professors  and  assistants, 
with  from  2,000  to  3,000  students." 

A  full  list  of  all  our  schools  gives  us  twenty-two  in 
all,  and  for  their  support  the  sum  total  expended  in 
one  quadrennium  (1 880-1884)  reached  $77,000.00. 

A  separate  Department  created  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1884,  for  Education,*  has  also  brought 


*This  was  upon  the  principle  that  "organization  is  life."    It  was.  in  short 
the  reorganization  of  what  first  took  form  in  1876. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  281 

under  its  control  the  Connectional  Literary,  Histori- 
cal and  Educational  Association,  with  the  Annual 
Conference  and  Local  Societies  of  the  same  name, 
and  we  can  but  look  for  more  systematic  efforts  in 
the  future. 

Aside  from  this  work  done  at  home,  several  students 
have  been  supported  by  various  Southern  Conferences 
at  Wilberforce  through  the  past  ten  years. 

The  most  reliable  statistics  concerning  the  educa- 
tion of  the  race  are  those  from  the  last  census,  and 
out  of  that  we  find  that  the  negro  race  in  the  United 
States  has  17,822  schools,  with  16,865  teachers. 
There  has  been  great  increase  since  then,  as  the 
census  of  the  present  year  will  show. 

There  is  to  be  a  day  of  deliverance  from  ignorance ; 
the  outlook  is  grand,  and  our  hopes  the  brightest. 
Upon  the  education  of  the  race,  Dr.  McCosh  once 
said  :  "I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  the  North  or 
the  South  can  elevate  the  negro ;  it  must  be  done  by 
themselves."  To  this  Dr. Tanner  (now  Bishop  Tanner) 
made  answer  :  "  Of  course  it  must.  No  man  or  com- 
munity of  men,  can  elevate  another.  Elevation  must 
always  come  from  within".  What  the  North  and  the 
South,  however,  can  do  is  to  cease  their  injustice, 
direct  and  indirect,  and  allow  the  negro  to  elevate 
himself.  If,  however,  they  had  continued  their  oppo- 
sition, it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  have 
acquitted  himself  as  he  has  done,  is  doing,  and  gives 
promise  of.  Things,  however,  are  moving  on  all 
right.  The  little  remaining  opposition  can  be  over- 
come, and  another  generation  will  make  croaking 
more  nonsensical  than  it  is  now." 

We  expect  to  do  this  work  if  left  alone  to  do  it,  and 


282  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

a  Church  that  can  raise  in  one  quadrennium  $13,170.80 
for  education,  aside  from  the  monies  raised  by  the 
Educational  Secretary  and  the  schools  themselves,  as 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church  has  done,  need  not  fear  for  the 
future.  Yet  one  thing  must  be  borne  in  mind  ;  as 
one  has  said  in  pressing  the  claims  of  education  : 
"  Christian  money  must  lay  the  foundation."  No  truer 
words  were  ever  uttered.  This  must  be  the  principle 
of  action  throughout  our  Connection.  It  will  be  the 
principle  of  action,  henceforth,  in  the  South. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  283 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

TEMPERANCE. 

This  volume  would  be  incomplete  without  a  chap- 
ter on  Temperance,  especially  since  the  liquor  traffic 
has  reached  such  a  stage  in  our  country's  history  as 
to  threaten  the  subversion  of  the  entire  fabric  of  our 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  forms  of  government.  Intem- 
perance stalks  about  the  face  of  the  earth  like  some 
hungry  beast  seeking  whom  it  may  devour.  It  boldly 
enters  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Church  and  defies 
resistance  of  its  power.  Disguised  in  most  respect- 
able garb  it  often  sits  enthroned  in  high  places,  sap- 
ping the  life  blood  of  the  people  from  its  seat  of  power 
like  an  enormous  vampire. 

Again,  in  its  wretched  nakedness,  it  enters  the 
home  and  breaks  up  the  family — driving  fathers  to 
crime,  mother  and  children  to  lowest  depths  of  vice 
and  misery,  shame  and  degradation,  substituting  want 
for  plenty,  squalor  for  cleanliness,  finally  wrecking 
life  and  ending  in  a  hopeless  death. 

The  great  king,  Solomon,  the  wisest  man  of  his 
times,  to  whom  God  gave  wealth  and  power  in  addi- 
tion to  wisdom,  has  truly  expressed  it  in  Proverbs 
when  he  says  :  "  Who  hath  woe  ?  who  hath  sorrow  ? 
who  hath  contentions?  who  hath  babbling?  who  hath 
wounds  without  cause?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes? 
They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine  ;  they  that  go  to  seek 


284  AFRI  CAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

mixed  wine.  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it 
is  red,  when  it  giveth  its  color  in  the  cup,  when  it 
moveth  itself  aright.  At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  ser- 
pent and  stingeth  like  an  adder." 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  choice  with  us  whether  or  not 
we  sit  quietly  by,  while  men  are  bartering  away  their 
souls  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  It  is  not  a  matter  of 
choice  whether  or  not  we  contribute  of  our  strength 
and  means  to  aid  in  checking  vice  and  sin  in  any  form. 
It  is  our  duty,  we  are  bound  by  the  eternal  law  of 
ages,  the  law  of  our  own  conscience  and  the  law  of 
God,  as  much  so  as  were  Martin  Luther,  Wickliffe, 
John  Wesley  and  Richard  Allen  to  go  forth  as  mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross,  spreading  our  benedictions  over 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world,  sowing  seed  that 
shall  spring  up  into  "harvests  of  blessings."  Our 
Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  commands  us  not 
only  to  love  our  neighbor  but  to  help  him  as  well. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  indifference  exhibited  upon 
the  part  of  many  who  ought  to  be  interested  in  the 
prohibition  movement.  There  may  be  differences 
of  opinion  as  to  the  methods  to  be  employed,  yet 
there  should  be  no  hesitancy  as  to  the  decided  advan- 
tage of  total  obstinence.  As  sure  as  God  is  just  we 
believe  that  this  terrible  evil  of  rum-selling  and  rum- 
drinking  must  come  to  an  end.  The  recent  campaign 
in  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  Georgia,  the  fierce  contest 
which  took  place  between  "wet  and  dry,"  and  the 
interest  manifested  by  the  better  class  of  citizens? 
both  white  and  black,  are  positive  proof  that  the 
cause  is  not  to  lag  in  the  future. 

Both  Church  and  State  are  threatened,  and  for  that 
reason  both  Church  and  State  should  be  aroused  to 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  285 

the  necessity  for  action,  feeling  the  responsibility 
resting  upon  them  and  discharge  this  as  it  should  be, 
not  relinquishing  any  effort  until  the  victory  be  won. 
That  we  are  by  no  means  unmindful  of  the  impor- 
tance of  this  question,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
among  the  subjects  which  regularly  recur  in  our  Con- 
ferences and  are  made  the  basis  of  reports  considered 
as  touching  upon  matters  connected  with  our  welfare, 
we  find  that  of  Temperance. 

A  few  forcible  facts  will  show  how  great  a  hold  the 
destroyer — rum  or  intoxicating  drinks  in  all  form — has 
upon  this  country  alone,  when  for  the  degrading  stim. 
ulant  we  see  such  enormous  sums  yearly  expended. 
We  are  told  upon  good  authority  that  every  year  this 
country  spends  in  the  liquor  traffic  alone  a  sum  ex- 
ceeding half  the  national  debt.  We  are  also  told  that 
the  great  wars  of  the  world,  from  1852  to  1877,  cost 
less  than  the  intoxicants  used  in  the  United  States  in 
the  same  period  by  $3,000,000,000.  There  is  here  a 
terrible  fact  to  face  :  that  unless  prohibition  puts  an 
end  to  this,  as  it  has  the  power  to  do.  there  will  be  an 
increase  in  this  cost  far  exceeding  the  increase  in  pop- 
ulation, and  that  consequent  want  must  follow. 

But  liquor  is  not  the  only  evil  to  be  shunned.  The 
voice  of  warning  is  raised  against  tobacco  as  well, 
against  narcotics  in  any  form,  for  one  and  all  are  in- 
cluded under  the  intemperate  habits  of  one.  May 
civilization  not  see  this  too  late. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  rush  of  life  has  much  to 
oo  with  these  dangers.  Every  one  is  anxious  for 
something,  money,  fame  or  position,  and  this  ambition 
presses  the  world  forward  in  an  exciting  race  to  see 
who  shall  win  that  which  is  coveted  most.     The  cares 


286  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

and  demands  of  life  also  enter  into  the  matter,  and  are- 
borne  down  as  well  as  along ;  there  is  a  craving  for 
anything  which  will  stimulate  and  keep  up  a  fictitious 
show  of  strength  at  least. 

The  rush  of  civilization  has  brought  with  it  the 
spirit  which  is  characteristic  of  all  Americans — the 
spirit  of  "Hurry,"  and  it  in  turn  has  developed  the 
spirit  of  general  intemperance,  we  may  say.  We  eat 
as  well  as  drink  intemperately ;  we  dress,  we  live,  we 
enjoy  ourselves  in  the  same  extravagant  manner.  As 
a  result  we  sacrifice  life  at  last  to  the  demands  of 
fashion  in  all  these  ways.  We  make  of  ourselves 
slaves  to  these  things,  as  much  fettered  and  bound  as 
the  drunkard  to  his  cups.  Ar>d  from  this,  too,  we 
need  relief.  If  the  negro  race,  if  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
is  to  become  what  we  all  desire — a  mighty  power  in 
the  future- — it  has  to  stop  and  consider  these  things 
that  are  confronting  the  most  powerful  and  most 
wealthy  of  races,  of  churches. 

The  voice  of  every  preacher  must  be  raised  against 
the  liquor  power  in  every  form,  against  the  tendency 
to  feast  the  appetite,  thus  making  the  coarser,  grosser 
part  master  of  the  higher.  Plain  living  and  high 
thinking  are  two  things  we  need  to  keep  in  view,  even 
if  luxury  be  within  our  reach.  The  spiritual  and  in- 
tellectual man  must  be  adorned,  rather  than  the  case, 
the  human  body.  The  sums  expended  for  mere 
amusement  are  en  rmous,  and  these,  too,  need  regu- 
lation. It  is  not  the  true  aim  of  life  to  enjoy  it  like  a 
butterfly,  but  it  is  to  make  the  mo  t  of  ourselves — fit 
temples  in  every  way  for  the  indwel  ing  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  such  a  use  of  time  and  opportunities  as- 
will  make  us  acceptable  in  every  way  in  His  sight.. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  US/ 

We  need  to  learn  economy,  not  to  be  parsimonious, 
neither  to  be  extravagant.  We  need,  in  short,  to 
know  just  how  to  live. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  claim  for  themselves  that  they 
are 

"The  heirs  of  all  the  ages  in  the  foremost  files  of  time  " 

This  may  and  may  not  be.  It  depends  upon  the 
standpoint  from  which  we  view  the  statement. 
But  there  is  a  statement  which  the  poet  makes  that 
we  would  do  well  to  consider  as  a  strong  encourage- 
ment : 

'■Time's  i  oblest  offspring  is  the  last  " 

Let  the  negro  race,  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  especially, 
keep  in  mind  to  be  that  "noblest  offspring."  Let 
every  one  of  us  remember,  amidst  the  perils  which 
surround  the  whole  American  nation,  that  our  safety, 
and  our  prosperity  as  a  people,  each  is  to  be  largely 
determined  by  our  temperate  living. 


288  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

IN    MEMORIAM. 

There  is  no  sadder  task  falling  to  the  lot  of  any 
man  that  that  of  preaching  the  funeral  sermon  of  the 
dead — sad  because  of  the  selfish  desires  of  the  human 
heart,  which  would  keep  all  loved  ones  here  on  earth 
amid  its  toils  and  dangers  to  battle  on  for  years 
longer,  even  when  the  flesh  is  too  weary  and  the  spirit 
too  worn  for  further  conflict. 

But  there  comes  a  time  when  we  feel  that  we  can 
see  that  God  truly  knoweth  best,  even  when  he  be- 
reaves us,  and  so  there  comes  a  time  when  we  can 
look  back  over  the  ranks  of  the  church  militant  and 
say  that  God  knew  best  when  he  selected  young  and 
old,  hale  and  strong,  as  well  as  weak  and  feeble,  for 
the  unerring  aim  of  the  marksman- — Death. 

They  are  scattered  all  along  the  years  of  our  work 
in  Georgia  from  1865 — these  men  in  their  prime  and 
these  old  veterans,  until  but  few,  very  few,  are  left 
with  us  who  saw  the  rise  of  the  A.  M.  E.  church  in 
the  South.  We  have  watched  the  others  as  they  have 
passed  over  Jordan's  flood  and  only  calmly  wonder 
whose  name  will  next  be  called.  But  there  is  a  satis- 
faction mixed  with  the  sadness  and  tempering  it 
when  we  think  of  the  lives  of  some  of  these  veterans 
of  the  cross,  these  fathers  in  Israel — of  their  self-sac- 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  289 

rificing  spirit  which  braved  so  much  for  the  church 
and  to  these  pioneers  we  owe  a  passing  word  of  re- 
spect. 

Almost  the  first  to  fall  was  Rev.  Wm.  Gaines — the 
writer's  brother — who  died  October  20,  in  1865,  at 
Columbus,  Ga.  As  a  brother  he  was  affectionate  and 
tender ;  as  a  Christian  he  was  zealous  and  helpful. 
He  was  not  allowed  to  live  long  enough  to  win  great 
honor  in  his  chosen  calling,  but  those  who  knew  him, 
knew  him  but  to  love  him,  and  knew  that  he  did 
strong  work  up  to  his  death.  We  have  mentioned 
his  work  in  Georgia  in  these  first  chapters,  and  here 
would  pay  the  tribute  that  the  ties  of  nature  and  of 
Christian  brotherhood  call  forth.  May  we  meet  in 
heaven. 

Among  the  first  old  men  to  fall  was  Thomas  K. 
Brown,  who  died  in  1874,  aged  93,  after  a  successful 
and  active  ministry  of  seventy-three  years.  He  was 
on  his  way  to  his  work  when  the  messenger  overtook 
him  at  Macon,  Ga.,  March  26.  What  those  73  years 
meant,  very  few  who  are  laboring  to-day  can  under- 
stand. To  preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified  under 
the  stress  of  the  days  of  slavery  at  the  opening  of 
this  century,  and  to  keep  a  strong  heart  and  an  earn- 
est faith  alive  and  glowing  through  all  that  distract- 
ing period  is  something  marvelous,  even  to  those  who 
have  felt  the  bitterness  of  bondage  and  the  lash.  But 
he  died  as  we  would  wish — with  his  face  to  the  foe, 
battling  against  Satan  to  the  last — the  triumphant 
death  of  the  righteous. 

Zechariah  Armstrong  followed  him  closely  to  the 
grave  in  July  following.  He  was  an  evangelist  who 
had   done   good  work.     There  was  no  doubt  of  his. 


290  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

being  a  Methodist.  That  was  decided  by  his  works. 
He  was  ever  ready  to  preach,  and  his  loss  was  deeply 
felt.  He  was  in  the  prime  of  life — rounding  out  his 
forty-five  years. 

Gabriel  Clark  was  another  who  gave  up  the  struggle 
in  1879,  December  18,  at  the  age  of  60.  For  forty- 
five  years  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  church  and 
had  preached  the  gospel  for  thirty  years.  He  joined 
us  at  the  Georgia  Conference  in  Columbus  in  1869. 
He,  too,  was  one  of  the  workers  who  had  seen  a  glo- 
rious battle  successfully  waged  with  sin,  but  his 
strength  had  failed,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
was  upon  the  superannuated  list.  His  last  words  were 
that  he  had  fought  a  good  fight. 

Albert  McGhee,  of  the  North  Georgia  Conference, 
•died  August  8,  1882,  at  his  home  in  Cartersville,  Ga., 
in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age.  He  was  born  in 
Abbeville  District,  S.  C,  in  1822.  Rev.  Andrew 
Brown,  who  departed  this  life  four  years  later,  spoke 
of  meeting  him  in  1847,  a  young  convert  at  a  camp- 
meeting  in  South  Carolina,  and  said  that  he  was  then 
impressed  by  his  bearing.  He  was  a  great  revivalist, 
and  labored  many  years  before  he  became  identified 
with  the  Georgia  Conference.  Bishop  Wayman  or- 
dained him  in  1867  and  assigned  him  to  Griffin  Sta- 
tion. He  was  ordained  Elder  by  Bishop  J.  M.  Brown 
in  1868.  He  remained  in  Griffin  until  1870,  when  he 
was  sent  to  Washington,  Wilkes  county.  In  1871-72 
he  was  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Americus  District ;  he 
was  appointed  to  Cartersville  in  1874,  in  1875  to  Put- 
nam County  Circuit  No.  1,  again  in  1876-77  to  Wash- 
ington, 1878-79  to  Greenesboro,  and  1880  to  Rome. 
In  1882  he  was  sent  to  Kingston.     He  was  one  of  the 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  291 

pioneer  workers  in  Georgia,  traveling  all  over  the 
State.  He  was  poor  in  this  world's  goods  at  death, 
hut  rich  in  faith,  for  when  found  sick,  penniless  and 
suffering,  he  said  :  "  Tell  the  Bishop  and  brethren  if 
I  die  in  my  chair  or  bed,  I  went  straight  to  heaven." 

The  next  old  pioneer  to  pass  away  was  Rev.  Samuel 
W.  Drayton,  who  died  in  January,  1885.  He  was  one 
of  the  grandest  and  most  effective  workers  in  the 
■cause  of  early  African  Methodism  in  Georgia.  He 
united  with  the  A..  M.  E.  Church  at  the  Conference 
held  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  18(36.  It  was  he,  as  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  who  brought  into  the  denomination 
Bethel  Church  and  its  membership  in  Augusta,  Ga. 
He  was  a  native  of  the  State,  and  had  been  ordained 
both  deacon  and  elder  in  days  of  slavery,  and  held  the 
distinction  of  being  the  longest  ordained  minister  of 
African  descent  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  He  was 
regarded  in  slavery  days  as  one  of  the  best  preachers, 
white  or  colored,  in  the  city  of  Augusta.  He  was  a 
natural  born  gentleman,  and  honored  as  a  prince 
among  his  brethren.  Most  of  the  societies  now  con- 
stituting the  circuits  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station  at 
Sparta  were  organized  by  him.  He  held  the  office  of 
Presiding  Elder  for  eight  years,  and  was  the  Macon 
Conference  Missionary  Agent  when  he  died.  He  was 
one  of  those  rare  men  whom  the  world  can  ill  afford 
to  lose.  He  was  progressive,  and  had  an  eye  on  all 
the  younger  men  of  promise.  "Why  did  God  take 
such  a  man  ?  "  he  sorrowfully  asked  at  Bishop  Dicker- 
son's  death. 

In  the  same  year  the  same  Conference  was  called 
to  mourn  the  death  of  Rev.  Preston  Brooks  Peters,  a 
young  man  of   thirty-three,  who  died  October  7  th. 


292  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

He  had  joined  the  North  Georgia  Conference  at  its 
session  in  the  city  of  Macon  in  1880,  and  was  ordained 
Elder  at  the  first  session  of  the  Macon  Conference 
held  in  Sandersville  in  1883.  His  talents  were  such 
that  he  was  released  from  the  pastorate  by  Bishop 
Dickerson  in  1881,  that  he  might  employ  them  in  the 
public  schools  of  Columbus,  Ga.,  when  he  became 
principal.  So  death  mows  down  young  and  old,  side 
by  side. 

In  1880  two  other  veterans  were  called  to  eternal 
rest — Rev.  Henry  Daniels  and  Rev.  Andrew  Brown. 
The  former  was  a  member  of  the  Macon  Conference 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  an  aged  man,  who 
was  one  of  the  most  faithful  among  ministers.  His 
life  was  filled  with  that  firm  trust  in  Jesus'  promises 
which  give  so  much  peace  and  joy  here  below  and  an 
eternal  life  in  heaven.     His  works  follow  him. 

Of  Rev.  Andrew  Brown  it  may  be  said  that  he  was 
one  of  the  oldest  Presiding  Elders  in  the  State  of 
Georgia.  He  was  a  pioneer,  and  a  member  of  the 
North  Georgia  Conference,  but  first  began  preaching 
in  the  M.  E.  Church  at  Union,  S.  C,  He  preached 
throughout  the  State  of  Tennessee  as  well.  When 
the  first  Conference  of  the  Church  met  in  Georgia  he 
was  present  and  a  member,  and  was  a  power  in  that 
Conference.  He  was  not  an  educated  man ;  on  the 
contrary  he  was  crude  and  unlettered,  but  he  was 
filled  with  ripe  judgment  and  the  learning  that  comes 
from  long  experience  and  earnest  endeavor.  His  life 
was  one  of  great  interest.  No  man  among  us  who 
entered  that  first  Conference  needs  to  be  eulogized 
more  than  Andrew  Brown.  He  left  an  ineffaceable 
impression    upon  the  hearts  of   the   people,  and   we 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  293 

might  truthfully  say,  the  imprints  of  his  feet  upon  the 
rocks  of  the  mountains,  for  he  would  walk  forty  miles 
to  an  appointment. 

No  man  in  Georgia  has  established  so  many  churches 
as  he.  He  was  a  man  who  would  preach  in  peace  if 
he  could ;  in  war,  if  not.  Tnere  was  but  one  Andrew 
Brown,  and  he  was  a  father  and  a  friend.  He  and  the 
writer  differed  but  he  would  always  end  by  saying, 
"Gaines,  I  can't  help  but  love  you."  His  record  in 
our  church  stands  as  follows :  He  was  admitted, 
ordained  both  deacon  and  elder  by   Bishop  Payne  in 

1866.  His  first  appointment  was  in  1866,  at  Dalton. 
He  was  presiding  elder  of  the  Marietta  District   in 

1867,  of  the  Atlanta  District  in  1868-69-70-71,  of  the 
Macon  District  in  1872,  of  the  Columbus  District  in 
1873,  of  the  Macon  District  again  in  1874-75-76-77  and 
of  the  Atlanta  for  the  second  time  in  1878.  His  next 
work  was  at  Eatonton,  Ga.,  in  1879-80,  in  Lexington 
in  1881,  St.  Paul's  Circuit  in  1882,  White  Plains  in 
1883-84.  His  last  appointment  was  at  Jonesboro,  Ga., 
for  he  would  not  locate,  and  here  he  died  triumphant. 
His  remains  were  taken  by  the  writer  to  Madison, 
Ga.,  and  there  buried  at  his  dying  request. 

Among  the  last  to  leave  us  for  the  better  land  was 
Rev.  G.  W.  H.  Williams,  who  died  Oct.  22,  1889,  as  a 
faithful  soldier  dies,  at  his  post,  with  the  words,  "  All 
is  well,  I  am  ready  to  go,"  upon  his  lips. 

FortuneRoberson  is  one  whom  we  would  not  omit 
from  the  list  ;  tried  and  true,  he  did  valiant  service  in 
the  field. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  Christian  minis- 
ters who  have  gone  on  before  from  the  Southern  fields 
of  Georgia,  and  mentioned  because  their  works  and 


"294  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE   SOUTH  J 

lives  are  intimately  known  to  the  writer.  Death  has 
taken  from  the  oldest  and  the  youngest — the  preachers 
in  the  itinerant  ranks  and  the  Bishops  from  their  presid- 
ing seats,  yet  the  work  goes  on.  Thank  God  for  that — 
that  though  we  may  die,  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  banner 
will  not  trail  in  the  dust,  for  there  are  hosts  of  true, 
brave  souls  left  ready  to  uphold  it,  and  to  toil  on 
through  morning  sun  and  noontide  heat  until  the  cool 
dews  of  evening  of  life  bid  them  to  lay  down  their 
work  and  enter  into  that  rest  which  abideth  forever 
for  the  faithful  soldiers  of  the  Cross. 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  295 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

TWENTY-FIVE  YEARS  OF  FREEDOM. 

Upon  May  15,  16-18,  1890,  the  Sixth  Episcopal  Dis- 
trict celebrated  its  Quarto-Centennial — twenty-five 
years  since  the  work  of  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  began 
in  the  South — twenty-five  years  of  freedom  to  the 
colored  race. 

As  we  close  this  volume  we  wish  to  glance  at  these 
two  events  in  retrospect,  and  see  what  has  been  done 
in  the  South.  It  has  been  said  that  we  "cannot  tell 
the  outcome  of  an  individual  nor  of  a  company  of 
men  who  are  working  for  God  and  humanity."  This 
is  as  true  as  when  Barbara  Heck  and  Philip  Embry 
set  foot  on  American  shores  to  be  the  pioneers  of 
American  Methodism.  It  is  also  true  that  individuals 
and  companies  themselves  hardly  have  defined  ideas 
of  what  will  be  the  outcome  of  their  work  any  more 
than  have  the  lookers  on.  We  work  out  our  own  des- 
tinies by  the  force  of  pressure  from  surrounding  cir- 
cumstances.    It  was  so  with  the  A.  M.  E.  Church. 

Bishop  Campbell  once  said  that  Richard  Allen  did 
not  intend  to  withdraw  from  the  M.  E.  Church  in 
America,  when  in  1786  he  formed  his  band,  as  Wesley 
had  done  in  1739,  but  it  was  the  outgrowth  of  envi- 
ronment in  both  cases.  Wesley  could  accomplish 
more  for  Methodism  by  a  formal  separation  from  the 


296  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  J 

Established  Church  in  England  (which  took  place  in 
1784)  just  as  we  could  do  more  by  Allen's  organza- 
tion  in  1816. 

But  it  was  nearly  fifty  years  before  the  A.  M.  E. 
Church  could  thrive  as  it  ought  below  the  belt  which 
separated  the  North  and  South— 1816  to  1865. 

When  in  1865  Bishop  Payne  came  to  the  South 
again,  after  his  exile,  no  one  could  have  foreseen  the 
work  that  would  follow,  as  the  result  of  that  planting 
in  Charleston,  in  one-quarter  of  a  century.  No  one 
would  have  dared  to  prophesy  such  a  work  as  we  see 
flourishing  to-day — that  from  the  one  Conference  or- 
ganized May  15th,  in  that  city,  twenty-three  should 
spring  into  existence,  making  twenty -four  in  the 
Southern  States — nearly  one  for  each  year  of  the 
twenty-five,  or  that  the  appointments  in  the  one  State 
of  Georgia  alone  would  have  increased  to  four  hun- 
dred ;  and  the  wildest  flight  of  hopeful  imagining 
would  not  have  seen  in  prospective  within  that  time 
the  sixteen  Church  schools  which  dot  the  South  now,, 
where  then  not  one  was  in  existence. 

It  is  a  most  pleasing  retrospect  for  the  Church,  and 
for  the  South,  as  seen  over  one-half  of  its  work  now 
lying  in  the  Southern  sections,  and  by  far  its  largest 
membership. 

The  band  of  sixteen,  in  1816,  duplicated  so  singu- 
larly by  coincidence  when  Bishop  Payne  called  the 
Church  together,  in  1865,  for  another  beginning,  has 
multiplied  wonderfully ;  and  there  is  not  the  least 
doubt  in  the  mind  of  one  of  our  ministers  to-day  that 
as  an  A.  M.  E.  Church  we  were  then  (1816)  in  a  better 
condition  to  do  more  for  the  brethren,  so  long  op- 
pressed and  suffering,  than  we  would  have  been  had 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  297 

•we  still  clung  to  the  Church  that  ostracized  and 
pressed  us  so  grievously  that  we  were  compelled  to 
break  the  bonds. 

Under  no  such  condition  as  was  ours  prior  to  that 
period  could  we  have  risen  in  manhood's  strength  and 
pushed  the  spiritual  warfare  into  the  dense  depths  of 
South  Carolina's  rice  swamps,  upon  its  low  islands 
skirting  its  southern-most  coasts,  into  the  broad  cot- 
ton fields  of  proud  old  Georgia  and  Mississippi,  into 
the  hidden  glades  of  the  flowery  land  of  Florida  and 
the  tall  canebrakes  of  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  and 
finally  into  the  southwest  Lone  Star  State,  Texas. 
It  was  the  way  the  Lord  had  led  us,  and  He  has  been 
leading  us  all  the  way  till  now. 

It  is  not  possible  for  the  North  to  look  upon  the 
•work  as  we  of  the  South  look  upon  it.  Perhaps  it  is 
not  possible  for  either  section  to  change  its  stand- 
point. The  A.  M.  E.  Church  entered  the  South  as  a 
mission  field,  having  abandoned  it  over  forty  years 
before,  when  the  threatened  insurrection  made  it  un- 
safe for  its  apostles  to  occupy  it  longer.  What  has  it 
brought  us  in  these  twenty-five  years  of  freedom, 
which  came  to  us  in  such  a  dual  form — freedom  from 
bodily  oppression,  freedom  from  religious  oppression  ? 
Is  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  the  Church  for  the  negro  race 
in  the  South  ?  Has  it  proven  itself  one  that  meets 
the  needs  of  the  masses?  Have  twenty-five  years  of 
negro  ruling  in  these  matters  been  of  any  avail  in 
proving  his  capacities  ?  What  has  it  done  for  the 
South  ? 

All  these  are  questions  that  are  to  be  answered  by 
what  this  quarter  of  a  century  has  revealed  to  friends 
and  foes  alike.     The  A.  M.  E.  Church  is  the  Church 


298  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE   SOUTH  J 

for  the  negro  race  ;  the  facts  prove  it.  Without  pros- 
elyting it  has  grown  far  beyond  any  other  negro  Meth 
odist  Church.  The  people  have  felt  first  the  all  per- 
suasive power  of  Methodism.  Those  who  formerly 
had  been  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church  South  bore 
the  love  of  Methodism  in  their  breasts  as  they  came 
to  us.  Those  without  the  pale  of  Methodism  were 
drawn  by  the  warmth  of  the  fire  within — the  brotherly, 
Christian  spirit  we  by  grace  possessed — by  the  doc- 
trines represented  through  our  organization,  and  by 
the  love  of  race.  There  are  countless  other  reasons 
we  might  bring  forth  to  prove  that  this  Church  does- 
indeed  meet  the  needs  of  the  race,  There  is  freedom 
of  thought  and  expression  with  no  undue  repression 
of  the  emotions  which  possess  us — emotions  so  long- 
repressed  by  the  spirit  that  ruled  over  us  that  it  was 
a  glad  day  when  they  could  find  a  time  and  a  place  in 
the  A.  M.  E.  Church  to  give  full  voice  to  them — free 
to  burst  forth  in  song  and  hallelujahs  to  God  from  the 
thousands  of  overflowing  hearts  of  the  poorest  and 
the  lowest  and  the  darkest  child  among  us. 

Then,  too,  it  is  the  negro's  own  Church — though,, 
thank  God,  no  one  of  any  race  or  color  is  excluded. 
It  is  free  throughout  its  length  and  breadth,  but  it  is- 
the  Redeemer's  Church  nevertheless,  and  it  is  a  tri- 
umphant proof  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  the 
race  in  the  way  of  organization  or  temporal  rulings. 
Look  at  our  churches  and  parsonages  dotting  the 
South  ;  look  at  our  institutions  of  learning  with  our  own 
accomplished  instructors,  and  all  will  make  answer  in 
clarion  tones  that  will  ring  down  the  ages  that  the  A. 
M.  E.  Church  has  done  more  than  any  other  to  prove 
the  capacity  of  the  negro  to  rule  and  yet  to  be  ruled- 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE   YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  299 

Look  at  the  masses  of  the  people  which  this  Church 
alone  has  reached.  With  the  true  primitive  Methodist 
missionary  spirit  it  has  emulated  the  missionary  heroes 
of  all  ages,  and  penetrated  wilds  where  there  seemed  no 
promise  for  harvest,  nursed  the  least  promising  seed 
until  it  germinated,  took  firm  root  and  finally  sent  up 
its  branches  to  see  the  light  of  day  that  the  world 
might  see  another  tree  of  African  Methodism.  Many 
of  these  plants  have  had  slow  growth  in  their  strug- 
gles for  existence,  but  we  can  safely  say  that  scarcely 
one  has  died  out  where  it  was  once  placed,  and  instead 
of  barrenness  we  have  had  fruit,  as  well  as  countless 
seedlings,  again  and  again,  from  the  most  vigorous 
and  hardy. 

African  Methodism  has  done  its  share,  too,  in  these 
twenty-five  years  in  carrying  on  the  education  of  the 
race.  It  has  been  as  broad  as  its  name  indicates,  and 
within  its  doors  no  narrow  sectarian  policy  has  been 
allowed.  It  has  worked  hand-in-hand  with  other  de- 
nominations as  well  to  free  this  fairest  section  of  our 
common  country  from  the  blot  that  the  accursed  sys- 
tem of  slavery  had  placed  upon  it.  A.  M.  E.  sons 
and  daughters  have  been  pioneers  in  every  nook  and 
corner,  and,  true  to  their  Methodistic  principles,  they 
have  been  of  the  people  that  they  might  win  and  work 
for  the  people. 

Twenty-five  years  of  freedom  and  twenty-five  years 
of  African  Methodism  in  the  Southern  States  have 
worked  wonders.  It  is  true  that  others  have  aided  in 
all  these  things,  that  the  white  race,  with  its  riches 
and  broad  philanthropic  ideas  through  all  Christian 
denominations  outside  our  own,  has  helped  us  largely 
in  accomplishing  these  wonderful  results  ;  but  while 


300  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  ; 

we  give  our  thanks  for  what  has  been  done  through 
the  labors  of  others,  we  cannot  be  blamed  if  we  ex- 
claim "Not  that  I  love  Caesar  less,  but  that  I  love 
Rome  more !"  when  we  claim  that  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
has  done  more  for  the  race  than  has  any  other  de- 
nomination, white  or  colored.  It  has  done  those 
things  that  cannot  be  counted  by  dollars  and  cents  ; 
it  has  preached  the  freedom  of  manhood,  the  rights  of 
the  negro,  sobriety  and  industry  ;  it  has  lived  near  to 
the  race  and  worked  from  within  ;  it  has  practiced 
what  it  preached,  and  then  has  affirmed  that  practice 
by  all  the  substantial  aid  necessary  to  carry  out  its 
claims,  even  through  courts  of  justice.  It  has  been  a 
Church  aggressive  in  all  things  pertaining  to  truth 
and  justice  in  a  section  where  we  have  needed  to  man- 
fully assert  our  manhood,  even  as  Christ  would  have 
us  do. 

With  twenty-five  years  behind  us  and  such  marvel- 
ous progress — agreed  to  by  lriends  and  enemies  alike, 
hailed  and  exulted  in  by  the  former,  feared  and  op- 
posed by  the  latter — what  have  we  to  look  forward  to 
in  the  coming  future  ? 

That  the  past  shows  that  we  have  a  great  destiny 
to  accomplish  as  a  Church  in  this  very  South  is  unde- 
niable; that  we  are  on  the  highway  toward  accom- 
plishing it  is  equally  true.  The  bulk  of  our  numbers 
as  a  race  will,  doubtless,  remain  in  this  section  for 
years  to  come,  and  here,  as  Bishop  Tanner  (then  Rev. 
B.  T.  Tanner)  said  when  in  1867  it  was  seen  that  the 
new  Conference  in  the  South  alone  had  reached  a 
membership  nearly  equal  to  the  whole  Church  else- 
where— fifty  thousand.— "  Here,"  said  he,  "is  to  be 
the  heart  of  our  Church,  that  is  to  throw  through  the 


OR   TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  301 

whole  body  the  vitalizing  blood."  It  is  our  land,  our 
home— a  land  watered  by  the  tears  and  sweat  and 
even  blood  of  our  fathers  and  mothers,  stirred  to  its 
fertility  by  the  labors  of  their  hands,  and  we  love  it. 
We  love  the  South  despite  the  faults  that  the  enemies 
of  right  have  made  seem  so  general.  We  know  that 
we  have  friends  here  as  well,  and  we  know  that  what- 
ever God  allows  is  right  for  the  day,  and  He  will  bring 
all  thing  to  a  righteous  end  ;  if  we  but  put  our  whole 
trust  in  Him,  His  arm  will  not  fail  to  be  outstretched 
over  us  in  care  and  protection. 

We  are  linked  to  this  section  by  these  and  other 
strong  fetters,  and  we  are  anxious  to  see  it  prosper  in 
every  way  ;  and  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  is  to  be  one  of 
the  agents  in  the  coming  tide  of  prosperity,  which  is 
destined  to  include  us  in  its  onward  sweep.  We  have 
a  mighty  future  before  us  as  one  of  the  most  sturdy 
branches  of  Methodism  in  any  country,  and  it  remains 
for  pastor  and  people  to  keep  before  their  mind's  eye 
the  common  interests  of  Cnurch,  race  and  the  South. 
We  cannot  divide  them.  Were  we  to  try  we  should 
only  weaken  ourselves  and  threaten  the  peace*  and 
prosperity  of  all ;  so  we  must  rise  to  the  measure  of 
our  responsibilities  in  every  way.  To  the  end  of  bring- 
ing about  this  future  not  a  single  opportunity  must  be 
allowed  to  escape  us — not  a  single  means  at  our  com- 
mand must  be  left  unutilized. 

We  have  great  educational  possibilities.  Our  col- 
leges are  to  be  made  the  first  in  the  land.  They  are 
to  be  provided  with  men  and  means  necessary  to  make 
them  such.  It  is  true  that  philanthropy  is  not  to  go 
on  forever.  In  time  the  great  work  of  education  in 
the  South  is  to  fall  upon  the  States  with  their  school 


302  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH  | 

systems  and  upon  the  people  of  that  section.  We  are 
not  always  to  be  receiving  as  in  the  past;  we  are  to 
help  ourselves  as  a  race,  and  to  the  A.  M.  E.  Church 
as  the  largest  body  of  workers  in  it,  the  world  will 
look  for  correspondingly  large  results,  Upon  us  as  such 
devolve  then  these  responsibilities,  and  we  say  em- 
phatically we  are  to  meet  them.  We  can,  we  will,  for 
the  Church  of  our  fathers  is  to  stand.  As  Bishop 
Dickerson  once  said  :  "  African  Methodism  had  to- 
be,  it  therefore  came  into  being  with  the  attributes 
of  permanency." 

It  has  been  progress  from  the  start  without  one  re- 
trograding step,  and  our  mission  is  not  yet  done.  As 
the  Church  is  gradually  reaching  out  to  the  islands 
and  continents  beyond,  it  will  find  its  glowing  center — 
the  South — alive  to  further  every  good  work  and  aid 
in  redeeming  the  world  for  the  Master's  coming 
Kingdom. 

When  the  nations  have  become  one  and  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  have  become  the  Kingdom  of  His 
Son,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  mission  of  the 
African  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  be  fulfilled. 
God  bless,  strengthen,  purify  and  exalt  her  to  that  end.. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  303 


APPENDIX. 

The  following  are  the  Conferences  in  Georgia  in 
order  from  the  first  Conference  in  the  South,  together 
with  the  place  of  assembly,  date  of  the  same  and  the 
names  of  the  Bishops  appointed  to  preside  over  the 
work ;  although  absence  and  death,  as  mentioned  in 
the  foregoing  chapters,  caused  other  Bishops  to  take 
charge  at  different  times,  as  has  been  stated : 

BISHOP    D.    A.    PAYNE. 


1865 — Charleston,  May  15. 
1866 — Savannah,  May  15. 
1867 — Wilmington,  March  30. 


BISHOP    J.    M.    BROWN. 

1868 — Georgia,  Macon,  March  12. 

1869— 

"         Columbus,  February  6. 

1870— 

"         Americus,  January  28. 

1871— 

"         Atlanta,  January  14. 

1872— 

"         Savannah,  January  5. 

1873- 

"         Macon,  January  11. 

BISHOP    T.    M.    D.    WARD. 

1874 — North  Georgia,  Augusta,  January  8. 

1874 — Georgia,  Thomasville,  January  22. 

1875 — North  Georgia,  Athens,  January  7. 

1875 — Georgia,  Albany,  January  21. 

1875 — North  Georgia,  Cartersville,  December  16.. 

1876 — Georgia,  Savannah,  January  29. 


304  AFRICAN    METHODISM    IN    THE    SOUTH 


BISHOP    J.    P.     CAMPBELL. 

876 — North  Georgia,  Griffin,  December  1. 
877 — Georgia,  Bainbridge,  January  18. 
877 — North  Georgia,  EatontOn,  December  5. 
878 — Georgia,  Columbus,  January  30. 
879 — North  Georgia,  Madison,  January  8. 
879 — Georgia,  Cuthbert,  January  22. 
880 — North  Georgia,  Macon,  January  7. 
880 — Georgia,  Americus,  January  21. 


BISHOP    W.    F.    DICKERSON. 

881 — North  Georgia,  Atlanta,  January  5. 

881 — Georgia,  Savannah,  January  19. 

882 — North  Georgia,  Augusta,  January  n. 

882 — Georgia,  Thomasville,  January  26. 

883 — North  Georgia,  Washington,  January  10. 

883 — Georgia,  Darien,  January  24. 

883 — Macon,  Georgia,  Sandersville,  January  30. 

883 — Macon,  Georgia,  Forsyth,  November  28. 

884 — North  Georgia,  Marietta,  January  9. 

884 — Georgia,  Valdosta,  January  17. 


BISHOP    J.  A.    SHORTER. 

884 — Macon,  Georgia,  Columbus,  November  19. 

884 — North  Georgia,  Athens,  December  3. 

885 — Georgia,  Albany,  January  14. 

885 — Macon,  Georgia,  Eatonton,  November  18. 

885 — North  Georgia,  Griffin,  December  2. 

886 — Georgia,  Hawkinsville,  January  20. 

886 — Macon,  Georgia,  Barnesville,  November  17. 

886 — North  Georgia,  Atlanta,  December  1. 


OR    TWENTY-FIVE    YEARS    OF    FREEDOM.  305 

1887 — Georgia,  Quitman,  January  14. 
1887 — North  Georgia,  Rome,  November  15. 
1887 — Macon,  Georgia,  Talbotton,  November  30. 
1887 — Georgia,  Savannah,  December  14. 


BISHOP    W.    J.    GAINES. 

888 — North  Georgia,  Dalton,  November  7. 

888 — Macon,  Georgia,  Americus,  November  14. 

888 — North  Alabama,  Florence,  November  21.* 

888— Alabama,  Mobile,  December  5.* 

888 — Georgia,  Cuthbert,  December  12. 

889 — North  Georgia,  Washington,  November  4. 

889 — Macon,  Georgia,  Milledgeville,  November  1 3. 

889 — North  Alabama,  Greensboro,  November  27.* 

889 — Alabama,  Union  Springs,  December  4.* 

889 — Georgia,  Brunswick,  December  12. 


BISHOP    W.    J.    GAINES. 

1890 — North  Georgia,  Cartersville,  November  5. 
1890 — Macon,  Georgia,  Co.umbus,  November  12. 
1890 — Georgia,  Dawson,  December  10. 
1890 — North  Alabama,  Birmingham,  November  26. 
1890 — Alabama,  Opelika,  December  3. 


*These  are  placed  here  simply  as  a  part  of  the  writer's  work  in  the  Sixth 
Episcopal  District  during  these  years. 


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fK&SHG 


